The photograph that discovers and uncovers the world is harder to simulate than an image that simply illustrates one's ideas about it.

Photographs need to demand the viewer's attention, often implicitly, posing questions as to the nature of what is being depicted. Photographs are not there to show us the world, but to show us a version of what may be happening.

Many who are making cellphone images are advocates with a stake in the outcome of what they are depicting. In some ways this makes their work more honest and easier to read - they can also manipulate, although the work of professionals can be quite manipulative as well.

Word, image, and sound all must have primacy in the development of the narrative.

One cannot always summarize massive issues by looking at the life of one person or one family, or even one community.

Photojournalism has become a hybrid enterprise of amateurs and professionals, along with surveillance cameras, Google Street Views, and other sources. What is underrepresented are those "metaphotographers" who can make sense of the billions of images being made and can provide context and authenticate them. We need curators to filter this overabundance more than we need new legions of photographers.

There are very few instances where writers have also been effective image makers - different skill sets are required.