When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don't give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.
I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do - that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse.
I like photography because it is a reality medium, unlike drawing which is unreal. I like to mess with reality...to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not?
Very often I say to myself: I would like to make a photo where nothing happens. But in order to eliminate, there has to be something to begin with. For nothing to happen, something has to happen first.
To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.
If anybody wanted to photograph my life, they'd get bored in a day.
I always wanted to be a photographer. I was fascinated with the materials, but I never dreamed I would be having this much fun. I imagined something much less elusive, much more mundane.
Oh, that sound? I'm in the hot tub, reading a novel.
To take photographs means to recognize - simultaneously and within a fraction of a second - both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis.
It began when I was so ill that there was a good chance of dying. I promised myself that if I survived I would never again pander to a magazine's requests or follow the ideas of art directors. I would only make images which were personal, which arose out of my own life.
The photograph should be more interesting or more beautiful than what was photographed
Don't shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.
I photograph from the heart. I adore little babies and I think that shows. My images are really very positive, very simple, and from the heart. Babies speak a universal language.
A photographer who made a picture from a splendid moment, an accidental pose of someone or a beautiful scenery, is the finder of a treasure.
The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.
Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.
For me the printing process is part of the magic of photography. It's that magic that can be exciting, disappointing, rewarding and frustrating all in the same few moments in the darkroom.
If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you're not out there, you'll only hear about it.
I shot that sucker right in the gumpy." Grandma Mazur
It's seldom you make a great picture. you have to milk the cow quite a lot to get plenty of milk to make a little cheese.
The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer.
For me, documentary photography has always come with great responsibility. Not just to tell the story honestly and with empathy, but also to make sure the right people hear it. When you photograph somebody who is in pain or discomfort, they trust you to make sure the images will act as their advocate.
Emotion or feeling is really the only thing about pictures I find interesting. Beyond that is is just a trick.
Remember the steam kettle; though up to its neck in hot water it continues to sing.
I may be a senior, but so what? I'm still hot.
