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.

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.

You can't make a great musician or a great photographer if the magic isn't there.

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.

What drove me and kept me going over the decades? If I had to use a single word, it would be 'curiosity.

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 I have tried to do is involve the people I was photographing... if they were willing to give, I was willing to photograph.