Photography is light-writing, the language of images. Less abstract than written or spoken language, it selects images from the existing world of appearances and arranges them in patterns. The camera-eye doesn't think, it recognizes. It shows us what we already know, but don't know that we know.
Its syntax is less constrained than its grammar, so the way images are put together is important.

People keep asking me the same, old question: How did I end up here, teaching children photography?
At the beginning when started to do some volunteer work in Cambodia, the chronic famine of Phnom Penh struck me. I had never taken any pictures of anything like that before. I'd only read about it. I'd never seen anybody die of hunger. So I started to ask basic questions about what's going on in the world, what's wrong with the world, issues and questions of world distribution, distribution of wealth – power. Where is the power and who has the power? And I found with a camera I could explore some of those things.
One of the rewards of being a documentary photographer is that you start to ask questions, because you start to observe things. Camera is just a tool that leads you toward understanding.
I guess what I'm trying to do, at this time, is explore power. Look at power, what it has done to the world and particularly its victims. I think we should be looking at the victims of those ridiculous policies, and having a camera around your neck gives you that freedom. That excuse. The only thing really worth documenting is the civilian victims.