Now people ask whether photography is art, but I think the question is of absolutely no interest.

I didn't take inspiration from other photographers, which in a way helped to find my own images.

Now people ask whether photography is art, but I think the question is of absolutely no interest.

Inspired by words you have to create images to tell the story, while it's much more difficult to find your own images with a film for inspiration, because someone has already done it for you.

I would love to photograph Angelina Jolie. A friend of mine is working with her on her next film and told me what I was already suspecting, that she is extremely interesting. I have never seen a picture of her that conveys all of her complexity. That would be a fabulous challenge, to find that in a photograph.

In 1990 I did a story with Helena Christensen about a woman who lives in a trailer in the middle of the desert and finds a little crushed UFO with a martian who has survived the crash. She takes him home, and they fall in love. Later he has to meet with his fellow martians who have arrived to rescue him. It's a sad ending. This was my first truly narrative story and apparently the first narrative story in fashion photography.

The discussion about whether photography is or isn't art is dated and of no interest. Your work makes you an artist, not your title.