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.

What you need to be a good photographer is an overwhelming curiosity and a good digestion.

I found a way of working which pleased me because I didn’t have to frighten people with heavy equipment. It was that little black box and me.

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.

I can't hold a camera anymore.

I realise that I had the best of serious picture journalism. There was an innocence in our approach, especially in the 1950s and 1960s when we naively believed that by holding a mirror up to the world we could help - no matter how little - to make people aware of the human condition.

I look for a sense of reality with everything I did. I didn't work in a studio, I didn't light anything. I found a way of working which pleased me because I didn't have to frighten people with heavy equipment. It was that little black box and me and £5 worth of film in my pocket or maybe it was only £2 in those days.