Gordon Parks
[Photographer and filmmaker, b. 1912, Fort Scott, Kansas, d. 2006, New York.]
I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapon against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty. I could have just as easily picked up a knife or gun, like many of my childhood friends did…
William Klein
[Photographer, b. 1928, New York, lives in Paris.]
I thought New York had it coming, that it needed a kick in the balls. When I returned to New York, I wanted to get even. Now I had a weapon, photography.
Irving Penn
[Photographer, b. 1917, Plainfield, New Jersey, d. 2009, New York.]
I myself have always stood in the awe of the camera. I recognize it for the instrument it is, part Stradivarius, part scalpel.
Nobuyoshi Araki
[Photographer, b. 1940, Tokyo, lives in Tokyo.]
Don’t you think that it is necessary to have a sense of brutality in photography?
Joel-Peter Witkin
[Photographer, b. 1939, Brooklyn, New York, lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.]
I had met these people the night before at the S and M club, and had convinced them to be photographed. When all was ready, this one said “Mr. Witkin, I don’t want to show my thing. Is there any way we can make it be there without showing it?” I just shouted, “Get the fuck on the set”—so he acted submissive and kind of liked it. But the guy who was to put the blade into his cock started complaining: “I can’t reach this.” So I screamed, “You just have to.” I was kind of nervous. I’d been working all night to set everything up.
Susan Sontag
[Writer, theorist, and critic, b. 1933, New York, d. 2004, New York.]
There is an aggression implicit in every use of the camera.
William Klein
[Photographer, b. 1928, New York, lives in Paris.]
Sometimes, I’d take shots without aiming, just to see what happened. I’d rush into crowds—bang! bang! ... It must be close to what a fighter feels after jabbing and circling and getting hit, when suddenly there’s an opening, and bang! Right on the button. It’s a fantastic feeling.
Ron Galella
[Photographer, b. 1931, Bronx, New York, lives in New York.]
I got in my car and followed [Marlon Brando] down to Chinatown, and got about twelve shots. Brando called me over and said, “What else do you want that you don’t have already?” And I said, “I’d like a picture without the sunglasses.” He said no and punched me right in the jaw, It was so fast I didn’t see it coming. Blood was gushing out of my mouth. I drove to Bellevue. The jawbone and five teeth were broken... To this day he has scars on his knuckles from my teeth.
