As great a picture can be made as one's mental capacity-no greater. Art cannot be taught; it must be self-inspiration, though the imagination may be fired and the ambition and work directed by the advice and example of others.

I start with no preconceived idea - discovery excites me to focus - then rediscovery through the lens - final form of presentation seen on ground glass, the finished print previsioned completely in every detail of texture, movement, proportion, before exposure - the shutter's release automatically and finally fixes my conception, allowing no after manipulation - the ultimate end, the print, is but a duplication of all that I saw and felt through my camera.

I don't care if you make a print on a bath mat, just as long as it is a good print.

Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn't photogenic.

Ultimately success or failure in photographing people depends on the photographer's ability to understand his fellow man.

When a photographer masters the tools and processes of the art, then the quality of the work is only limited by his creative vision.

My true program is summed up in one word: life. I expect to photograph anything suggested by that word which appeals to me.