Themes recur again and again in my work.

I had in mind a long career.

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

Themes recur again and again in my work.

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

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.

If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it's already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.