The camera has always been a magic wand for me, giving me access to places where I could try new experiments.
— Rene Burri
It took me six years to get close to Picasso. I learnt a lot from him, and he was an absolute genius. He almost became my grandfather at the time. It was like he was a magician or something.
For me, Picasso was the ultimate man. He taught me that photography is all about how you approach an image: what you do and what you don't do. He inspired me to go beyond what you think is in front of you.
I never had the time or luxury to think about inventing my own colour theory. When colour came, I was interested in expressing things that happened around me in time.
If you are truly successful in capturing the pulse of life, then you can speak of a good photograph.
In 1958, a year before the revolution, Magnum wanted to send me to Cuba because they had contacts with the rebels. I'd just spent six months in South America and said 'No', so I missed everything.
I grew up in Switzerland, in this kind of rigidity. It was Protestant, and I was rather shy. That influenced me a lot.
I witnessed the building of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the first orbiter to be launched into space.
Looking back, I didn't have the patience to work in fashion. I like women so much, but I was never qualified to torture them in photo shoots. You have to be really tough and brutal.
I lived and grew up in the black and white period of photojournalism.
What counts is putting the intensity that you yourself have experienced into the picture. Otherwise it is just a document.
Everyone takes pictures, so you need to have your own opinion.
My photography is the result of being there at the right moment.
I suddenly had to chase after my pictures... Pictures are like taxis during rush hour - if you're not fast enough, someone else will get there first.
I think that's the strength of photography - to decide the decisive moment, to click in the moment to come up with a picture that never comes back again.
One of these days, I'm going to publish a book of all the pictures I did not take. It is going to be a huge hit.
A photograph is a moment - when you press the button, it will never come back.
