I have been poor and I wanted to document poverty; I had lost a child and I was obsessed with birth; I was interested in politics and I wanted to know how it affected our lives; I am a woman and I wanted to know about women.

Lesson number one: Pay attention to the intrusion of the camera.

I can't hold a camera anymore.

I don't see anybody as either ordinary or extraordinary. I see them simply as people in front of my lens.

A studio session ... provides the greatest chance for control. Even though there is total freedom, I still dislike studio photography and the contrived images that usually stem from this genre.

Recording sessions were stimulating to photograph, because everything was in motion: the subject, the musicians, the technicians and the photographer. You needed fast reflexes to keep up with moving targets, and sensitivity and skill to get the pictures while keeping out of the performers' eyeline so as not to break their concentration.

It doesn't matter if you use a box camera or you use a Leica; the important thing is what motivates you when you are photographing.