In almost every photograph I have ever made, there is something I would do to complete it. I take that to be the spirit hole or the deliberate mistake that's in a Navajo rug to not be godlike, but to be human.

That's who comes to my workshops. I jokingly tell my students that the class could be called "Your photographs: Better."

I was known as a 35-mm photographer with a view-camera mentality.

The longer we lived with it the more we wanted something less about process and more about life.

The best lesson I was given is that all of life teaches, especially if we have that expectation.

My first priority when taking pictures is to achieve clarity. A good documentary photograph transmits the information of the situation with the utmost fidelity; achieving it means understanding the nuances of lighting and composition, and also remembering to keep the lenses clean and the cameras steady.

Photographs that transcend but do not deny their literal situation appeal to me.