Artists are a very important part of our society because they make a great contribution to our values. The artist creates a value system that we all grow up on, whether we know it or not.

The artist creates the material that we look back upon as part of history.

Seeing your work on the wall is like the ultimate thing that can happen.

There were no black images of dignity, no images of beautiful black people. There was this big hole. I tried to fill it.

I try to photograph things that are near to me because I work best among things I know. I'm not concerned with startling anyone or discovering new forms; formal qualities are only tools to help state my message.

But if it's true it's beautiful. Truth is beautiful. And so my whole work is about what amounts to a reverence for life itself.

Artists are a very important part of our society because they make a great contribution to our values. The artist creates a value system that we all grow up on, whether we know it or not.