I Didn't Set Out To Do Something

I Didn't Set Out To Do Something Different So Much As Do Something That Interested Me. I Wasn't Trying To Be Avant-garde - That's Being Fashionable. You Don't Set Out To Revolutionize Art, You Make Statements For Yourself.

Influences Come From Everywhere But When You Are Actually Shooting You Work Primarily By Instinct. But What Is Instinct? It Is A Lifetime Accumulation Of Influence: Experience, Knowledge, Seeing And Hearing. There Is Little Time For Reflection In Taking A Photograph. All Your Experiences Come To A Peak And You Work On Two Levels: Conscious And Unconscious.

I Often Wonder Whether I Would Have Done As Well In Painting.

I Don't Care What You Do With That Negative, You Can Retouch It, You Can Spit On It, You Can Grind It Underfoot. The Only Thing That Matters Is If It Is Honest. If [the Picture] Is Honest, You And Everybody Can Tell. If It Is Dishonest, You And Everybody Can Tell.

There Are No Rules And Regulations For Perfect Composition. If There Were We Would Be Able To Put All The Information Into A Computer And Would Come Out With A Masterpiece. We Know That's Impossible. You Have To Compose By The Seat Of Your Pants.