The spirit of a nation is what counts-the look in its eyes.
The precise instant of creation is when you choose the subject. (meaning that the essential thing occurs at the moment when he, the photographer, meets the reality he wishes to capture.
Only powerfully conceived images have the ability to penetrate the memory, to stay there, in short to become unforgettable.
My ambition was always to show aspects of daily life as if we were seeing them for the first time.
My images were surreal simply in the sense that my vision brought out the fantastic dimension of reality. My only aim was to express reality, for there is nothing more surreal than reality itself. If reality fails to fill us with wonder, it is because we have fallen into the habit of seeing it as ordinary.
The purpose of art is to raise people to a higher level of awareness than they would otherwise attain on their own.
To me photography must suggest, not insist or explain.
I received the Media for Liberty Award from Swedish PEN, and the prize was awarded by the Swedish minister of culture, who also happens to be the minister of sport. When she handed me the award, I said, Thank you, it's wonderful to be recognized, but we journalists always want more. So madam minister, I have a personal favor to ask you: Do not go to Sochi. And she announced that she was going to Sochi, but she's not attending the ceremonies, for political reasons. It's a very pointed stance.
The common people feel themselves oppressed by the grasping of some, and their vanity is flattered by others. Fired with evil passions, they are no longer willing to submit to control, but demand that everything be subject to their authority. The invariable result is that government assumes the noble names of free and popular, but becomes in fact the most execrable thing, mob rule.
In intellectual honesty, we should be willing to study and explore the spiritual life with all the rigor and determination we would give to any field of research.
They'll kill you in a minute rather than deal with truth. It's more convenient because then they can forget about it and rationalize your death.