If there is something occurring that is so bad that it could be considered a crime against humanity, it has to be transmitted with anguish, with pain, and create an impact in people - upset them, shake them up, wake them out of their everyday routine.

Many people in this world do jobs that are dangerous and where their life is at risk and they feel that there is some kind of value to their job I guess that's how I feel about what I do. There is a social function to documentary photography that is very important and it requires people to take risks.

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

Starvation and disease are the original weapons of mass destruction. When you burn fields and kill animals, people are left vulnerable.

I dont think tragic situations are necessarily devoid of beauty.

I try to use whatever I know about photography to be of service to the people I'm photographing.

If you want to connect with people who are in distress and great grief and scared, you need to do it in a certain way. I move kind of slow. I talk kind of slow. I let them know that I respect them.