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

It's the not the subject that interests me as much as my perception of the subject.

The artist is a kind of a seer and by nature he is optimistic because he believes in the future.

I don't really think that the technique really determines the veracity of the image. It's what the image does to the viewer that determines whether it's right or wrong.

My photographs are subjective and personal-they’r e intended to be accessible, to relate to people’s lives... People-their well-being and survival-are the crux of what’s important to me.

A photograph is a photograph, a picture, an image, an illusion complete within itself, depending neither on words, reproductive processes or anything else for its life, its reason for being.

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.