The state of mind of a photographer while creating is a blank... For those who would equate “blank” with a kind of static emptiness, I must explain that this is a special kind of blank. It is a very active state of mind really, a very receptive state of mind, ready at an instant to grasp an image, yet with no image pre-formed in it at any time. We should note that the lack of a pre-formed pattern or preconceived idea of how anything ought to look is essential to this blank condition. Such a state of mind is not unlike a sheet of film itself—seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second’s exposure conceives a life in it. 

 Dreams and photographs have something in common; those photographs that yield to contemplation at least have a quality about them that tempt one to set associations going. 

 I strive to undo my reactions to civilization’s syncopated demands and hope that inner peace, quiet, and lack of concern for specific results may enable a stance of gratitude and balance—a receptiveness that will allow the participation of grace. 

 The photographer projects himself into everything he sees, identifying himself with everything in order to know it and to feel it better. 

 I have often photographed when I am not in tune with nature but the photographs look as if I had been. So I conclude that something in nature says, “Come and take my photograph.” So I do, regardless of how I feel. 

 Creativity with portraits involves the invocation of a state of rapport when only a camera stands between two people... mutual vulnerability and mutual trust. 

 Sometimes we work so fast that we don’t really understand what’s going on in front of the camera. We just kind of sense that, “Oh my God, it’s significant!” and photograph impulsively while trying to get the exposure right. Exposure occupies my mind while intuition frames the images. 

 ...a very receptive state of mind... not unlike a sheet of film itself—seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second’s exposure conceives a life in it.