For those aspiring to make a living from travel photography, it's a sad fact that the boring shots are the shots that are going to make you money.
— Martin Parr
Modern technology has taken the angst out of achieving the perfect shot. For me, the only thing that counts is the idea behind the image: what you want to see and what you're trying to say. The idea is crucial. You have to think of something you want to say and expand upon it.
I would urge everyone to start looking at the world in a different way. Spend some time looking at everyday objects, at their design, their shape, their individual characteristics. Think ahead and imagine their significance.
Sepia in particular tends to make everything look a bit romantic and almost sentimental, hence the fact that it remains such a popular choice for wedding photographs.
The knack is to find your own inspiration and take it on a journey to create work that is personal and revealing.
I always take photographs when I attend a funeral. Most people there know who I am and expect me to be there with my camera.
I get up early and open my emails, write cheques, and answer the phone; whatever needs to be done.
I toyed with the notion of being an actor, and am so glad that this whim did not go any further.
My biggest television weakness is 'Dragons' Den.'
I do read many of the photography magazines from the U.K. and abroad.
When I fly British Airways, I can't help but read the free Daily Mail, which makes me glad I am leaving the country.
I like to keep in touch with younger photographers. It's important that a younger generation comes up and questions the assumptions made by old farts like me.
I photograph people as I find them. But people have issues about how they look.
Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work.
TV-makers usually don't know much about photography.
I would drown in objects if I didn't have the ability to photograph them.
Taking photos is a form of collecting.
Personally, I don't take holidays; I go on trips. My idea of relaxing is taking a trip that isn't commissioned. I'll work just as hard, but without that nagging pressure of fulfilling a commission. Now that's what I call a holiday.
I am not as cross about Thatcher now as I was in the '80s. Begrudgingly, I can see that some of her policies helped modernise Britain.
Most of us, when we go out with a camera in our own country, try to find exotic subject matter to photograph.
You can't shoot in sepia, so converting into black and white and then into brown makes everything feel less real.
We live in a difficult but inspiring world, and there is so much out there that I want to record.
You can easily take photographs at a wedding - no one would question it. But funerals are different.
Over the years, I have perfected the art of dancing and photographing at the same time: it's a great double act. If you're dancing, you are joining in. If you stand there rigid, you are not in the flow of things.
I am kept awake by the list of possibilities for shooting more photos and deciding what I must prioritise next.
I am away so much, so I rarely see live TV, but I use iPlayer to catch programmes.
I am a big fan of Jim Jarmusch, and I do love big screen documentaries.
My profile is bigger in Europe than it is in the U.K.
I never think of photographs as being individual. Always as a group.
Wealthy people have not disappeared, they are just not so willing to show off their wealth.
There are 65 to 70 photography galleries in New York alone. In the U.K., there are no more than five, and they're all in London.
The ability for us to laugh at ourselves is Britain's saving grace.
When I visited Vietnam for Oxfam, the thing that really struck me was how the local farmers had to prepare to evacuate or climb to their mezzanines with their valuable family possessions.
The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.
By default, I am a travel photographer. I work on a combination of commissions and personal projects that take me around the world.
I pride myself in being an aficionado of the British seaside. Throughout my career, I have visited and worked in many of the famous British resorts, from Great Yarmouth to Largs.
As we travel around Britain, I am convinced most of us cannot really appreciate what we are seeing. We take too much for granted, because it is all so familiar.
Choosing sepia is all to do with trying to make the image look romantic and idealistic. It's sort of a soft version of propaganda.
Sometimes you feel uncomfortable taking a photograph, but that's all part of the job.
Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.
I have been photographing people dancing for 20 or 30 years now, and I think I will eventually do a book of dancing photos.
I am not a huge follower of music and tend to like one CD and play it to death, usually when I am washing up.
I love curating, because I'm lucky and privileged that I have a platform and I can share my discoveries with other people.
I avoid Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and if I need to communicate with someone, I email direct.
The trouble with Hollywood films is that they always have a pleasant ending.
Tourism is the biggest industry in the world.
Filming is always a challenge because I'm not used to it. But I approach it head-on. I'm not technically brilliant, but it's the spirit that counts.
One of the things I regret is that magazines now are so lifestyle-orientated that the opportunity to do bigger projects is gone. This is a serious misjudgment on the part of magazine editors.
Margaret Thatcher was very good for the arts in so far as it gave people a real focus for something to be against.
Dictators are interesting, no?
