The freakish is no longer a private zone, difficult of access. People who are bizarre, in sexual disgrace, emotionally violent areseen daily on the newsstands, on TV, in the subways. Hobbesian man roams the streets, quite visible, with glitter in his hair.

Photographs trade simultaneously on the prestige of art and the magic of the real.

I'm more cautious about what I write.

Nobody ever discovered ugliness through photographs. But many, through photographs, have discovered beauty.

Intelligence is not necessarily a good thing, something to value or cultivate. It's more like a fifth wheel - necessary or desirable when things break down. When things go well, it's better to be stupid ... Stupidity is as much a value as intelligence.

All great art contains at its center contemplation, a dynamic contemplation.

Most of my reading is rereading.