One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.

A very receptive state of mind... not unlike a sheet of film itself - seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second's exposure conceives a life in it.

We could teach photography as a way to make a living, and best of all, somehow to get students to experience for themselves photography as a way of life.

Students were taught by doing.

Camera and eye are together a time machine with which the mind and human being can do the same kind of violence to time and space as dreams.

The state of mind of the photographer creating is a blank. I might add that this condition exists only at special times, namely when looking for pictures. -Something keeps him from falling off curbs, down open manholes, into bumpers of skidding trucks while in this condition but goes off duty at other times. . . . This is a very special kind of blank. A very active state of mind really, it is a very receptive state. . .

When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave until you have captured its essence.