I Became A Photographer In Order To

Photography Can Be Perceived As The Opposite Of War.

Do We Really Need Another Picture Of Paris Hilton Or Naomi Campbell?

I Want My Work To Become Part Of Our Visual History, To Enter Our Collective Memory And Our Collective Conscience. I Hope It Will Serve To Remind Us That History's Deepest Tragedies Concern Not The Great Protagonists Who Set Events In Motion But The Countless Ordinary People Who Are Caught Up In Those Events And Torn Apart By Their Remorseless Fury. I Have Been A Witness, And These Pictures Are My Testimony. The Events I Have Recorded Should Not Be Forgotten And Must Not Be Repeated.

But Everyone Cannot Be There, And That Is Why Photographers Go There - To Show Them, To Reach Out And Grab Them And Make Them Stop What They Are Doing And Pay Attention To What Is Going On - To Create Pictures Powerful Enough To Overcome The Diluting Effects Of The Mass Media And Shake People Out Of Their Indifference - To Protest And By The Strength Of That Protest To Make Others Protest.

You Are Never Freer Than In That Moment When You Decide To Expose Yourself To Sniper Fire.