I want my pictures to cut through political abstractions... and make a connection on a human level.

I want to record history through the destiny of individuals who often belong to the least wealthy classes. I do not want to show war in general, nor history with a capital H, but rather the tragedy of a single man, of a family.

I don't believe there's any such thing as objective reality. It's only reality as we experience it.

[Photography] puts a human face on issues which, from afar, can appear abstract or ideological or monumental in their global impact.

Photography can be perceived as the opposite of war.

Unfortunately, the world continues, history continues to produce tragedies. And it is very important that they be documented in a humane way, in a compelling way.

The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what our political and military leaders were telling us. They were straight forward documentary images. A powerful indictment of the war, of how cruel and unjust it was. When I finally decided what to do with my life, it was to follow in that tradition.