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.

If Im feeling outraged, grief, disbelief, frustration, sympathy, that gets channeled through me and into my pictures and hopefully transmitted to the viewer.

The greatest statesmen, philosophers, humanitarians ... have not been able to put an end to war. Why place that demand on photography?

Photography can be perceived as the opposite of war.

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

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

Do we really need another picture of Paris Hilton or Naomi Campbell?