I'm a photographer, obviously. My chosen tool for understanding life, and communicating the results of this search to others, is the camera.

In previous ages the word 'art' was used to cover all forms of human skill. The Greeks believed that these skills were given by the gods to man for the purpose of improving the condition of life. In a real sense, photography has fulfilled the Greek ideal of art; it should not only improve the photographer, but also improve the world.

I never claim my photographs reveal some definitive truth. I claim that this is what I saw and felt about the subject at the time the pictures were made. That's all that any photographer can claim. I do not know any great photographer who would presume otherwise.

Learn from the best; the second raters have nothing to offer.

The most important piece of equipment after the camera is a good pair of shoes.

Life as it unfolds in front of the camera is full of so much complexity, wonder and surprise that I find it unnecessary to create new realities. There is more pleasure, for me, in things as-they-are.

These are the two basic controls at the photographer's command--positi on and timing--all others are extensions, peripheral ones, compared to them