So I Went To Chicago In 1940,

You Know, The Camera Is Not Meant Just To Show Misery.

I Was Born To A Black Childhood Of Confusion And Poverty. The Memory Of That Beginning Influences My Work Today, It Is Impossible Now To Photograph A Hungry Child Without Remembering The Hunger Of My Old Childhood.

I've Known Both Misery And Happiness, Lived In So Many Different Skins It Is Impossible For One Skin To Claim Me. And I Have Felt Like A Wayfarer On An Alien Planet At Times - Walking, Running, Wondering About What Brought Me To This Particular Place, And Why. But Once I Was Here The Dreams Started Moving In, And I Went About Devouring Them As They Devoured Me.

I Suffered First As A Child From Discrimination, Poverty ... So I Think It Was A Natural Follow From That That I Should Use My Camera To Speak For People Who Are Unable To Speak For Themselves.

Success Can Be Wracking And Reproachful, To You And Those Close To You. It Can Entangle You With Legends That Are Consuming And All But Impossible To Live Up To.