Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it's the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves.
I think the wrong things are kept private
I used to think that I could never lose anyone if I photographed them enough. In fact, my pictures show me how much I’ve lost.
My desire is to preserve the sense of people’s lives, to endow them with the strength and beauty I see in them. I want the people in my pictures to stare back.
A lot of people seem to think that art or photography is about the way things look, or the surface of things. That's not what it's about for me. It's really about relationships and feelings. . . it's really hard for me to do commercial work because people kind of want me to do a Nan Goldin. They don't understand that it's not about a style or a look or a setup. It's about emotional obsession and empathy.
For me it is not a detachment to take a picture. It's a way of touching somebody - it's a caress… I think that you can actually give people access to their own soul.
Yes, photography saved my life. Every time I go through something scary, traumatic, I survive by taking pictures.
Heaven has given human beings three things to balance the odds of life: hope, sleep, and laughter.
It's all I have left in my life, caffeine and a poodle.
I love what I do. If I had my time over again, I'd probably do it for nothing.
I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.