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.

I had in mind a long career.

I can't hold a camera anymore.

Themes recur again and again in my work.

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

If the chemistry is right between star and photographer and the geometry of the pictures pleases the star, often the two people end up with a long-term professional friendship during which they continue to work together and to produce highly personal images.

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