Quotes 

"For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to “give a meaning” to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression. To take a photograph is to hold one’s breath when all faculties converge in a face of fleeing reality. It is at that moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy. To take a photograph means to recognize – simultaneously and within a fraction of a second– both the fact itself and the rigorous organisation 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."

"Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its practitioners is in the instrument."

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again."

"In photojournalistic reporting, inevitably, you're an outsider."

"What reinforces the content of a photograph is the sense of rhythm – the relationship between shapes and values."

"The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality."

"The picture is good or not from the moment it was caught in the camera."

"I want to prove nothing, demonstrate nothing. Things and beings speak sufficiently."

"The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt."

"The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box."