Washington, D.C. in 1942 was not the easiest place in the world for a Negro to get along.

At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it.

The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer.

Washington, D.C. in 1942 was not the easiest place in the world for a Negro to get along.

You know, the camera is not meant just to show misery. You can show things that you like about the universe, things that you hate about the universe. It's capable of doing both.

The photographer begins to feel big and bloated and so big he can't walk through one of these doors because he gets a good byline; he gets notices all over the world and so forth; but they're really - the important people are the people he photographs.

I have been born again and again and each time, I have found something to love.