Quote

I never thought that my work was going to become well-known. It started happening slowly, without my realizing it. But when I did, it was terrifying. I still can't believe that people let me photograph them. The trust is amazing. But I've always put them in a context that is dignified, and that's really important.

Tina Barney

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Tina Barney
Age: 79
Born: 1945
Born: January 1
Artist
Photographer
New York City
New York
Always
Still
Photograph
Never
Without
Amazing
People
Well
Trust
Important
Started
Dignified
Going
Realizing
Terrifying
Work
Known
Context
Believe
Thought
Slowly
Really
Become
Happening

More quotes by Tina Barney

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I usually know when I take the picture. There's always some kind of un-self-conscious thing going on, so that it doesn't look like they're there for the sake of having their portrait taken.
Tina Barney
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I think people imitate actors - things they've seen in a movie or on TV, and before you know it, they're doing something with their face or their mouth. It's from some actor they think is cool. They might not even know they're doing it, which is kind of funny.
Tina Barney
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I sometimes get commissioned to photograph families, and they see the results and say, Oh, I look terrible. And that's when I realize the difference between the people I choose and the people who choose me.
Tina Barney
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I've always said that the Europeans subconsciously knew how to pose because of the culture or tradition of having your portrait made. They were surrounded by these portraits, and subconsciously they were already posing for them.
Tina Barney
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[My advice to a beginning photographer is] sit down with a pencil and paper and think about what your life is about. What you are about. Don't even take a camera into your hands before you figure that out.
Tina Barney
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The conservatism is extraordinary to me just compare the way they dress to the way their parents dress. There are still no tattoos or piercings, which is interesting to me. Why does everyone who lives in one place dress alike, look alike, eat the same thing, and decorate the same way?
Tina Barney
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Can you see the deaths, divorces, job losses or changes, disappointments, surprises, and successes on people's faces? Have they been happy, sad, disillusioned, or gratified? I have been trying the single, vertically shot portrait with my 8 x 10 since 1985 and never felt I succeeded in finding what I was looking for.
Tina Barney
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Does getting closer to the subject make the photograph more intimate? I'm sure it takes more than that. What comes next? The face, the nude? That's what I'd love to do. Who would even let me do that?
Tina Barney
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Color is very important in my work. That comes from style. My mother was a fashion model and an interior decorator, so that was me imitating her. My closest friend's mother was the same way, and her taste rubbed off on me, too. It's a domino effect of taste permeating through people.
Tina Barney