Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work.
Martin Parr
The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.
Tourism is the biggest industry in the world.
Criticism is hypocrisy; society is hypocrisy. I'm a tourist. I'm a consumer. I do the things that I photograph and can be criticized of.
I think the ordinary is a very under-exploited aspect of our lives because it is so familiar.
Fashion pictures show people looking glamorous. Travel pictures show a place looking at its best, nothing to do with the reality. In the cookery pages, the food always looks amazing, right? Most of the pictures we consume are propaganda.
Places change all the time, and the type of people who live there change.
Of course, New Brighton is very shabby, very rundown, but people still go there because it's the place where you take kids out on a Sunday.
I would drown in objects if I didn't have the ability to photograph them.
If you go to the supermarket and buy a package of food and look at the photo on the front, the food never looks like that inside, does it? That is a fundamental lie we are sold every day.
Photography is, by its nature, exploitative. It's whether you use this process with a sense of responsibility or not. I feel that I do so. My conscience is clear.
We live in a difficult but inspiring world, and there is so much out there that I want to record.
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.
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.
The ability for us to laugh at ourselves is Britain's saving grace.
Dictators are interesting, no?
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.
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.
If there is any jarring at all in my photographs, it's because we are so used to ingesting pictures of everywhere looking beautiful.
Sometimes you feel uncomfortable taking a photograph, but that's all part of the job.
I get up early and open my emails, write cheques, and answer the phone; whatever needs to be done.
Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.
Taking photos is a form of collecting.
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.
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 toyed with the notion of being an actor, and am so glad that this whim did not go any further.
I just go out and try to make sense of the world around me.
When someone says to you, 'Oh, I don't take a good picture,' what they mean is they haven't come to terms with how they look. They take a fine picture, it's just that their image of how they think they look is not in touch with the reality.
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.
When I fly British Airways, I can't help but read the free Daily Mail, which makes me glad I am leaving the country.
Part of the role of photography is to exaggerate, and that is an aspect that I have to puncture. I do that by showing the world as I really find it.
I avoid Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and if I need to communicate with someone, I email direct.
There are elements of irony in my work, of course.
The idea of England in decline is very attractive.
You can't shoot in sepia, so converting into black and white and then into brown makes everything feel less real.
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.
I do read many of the photography magazines from the U.K. and abroad.
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.
I am a big fan of Jim Jarmusch, and I do love big screen documentaries.
Photographers never want to talk about the fact that they may well be in decline. It's the greatest taboo subject of all.
We live in a homogenized world, where it's hard to get excited when everything is slick and professional. The interesting things are the dull things.
When I am in London, all I do is mix with other people in the arts.
I don't like being flattered. It doesn't suit my English sensibilities. Remember, we are the great country of understatement.
My father was an obsessive bird-watcher. The genes of observation passed down.
I photograph wealth.
In the '70s, in Britain, if you were going to do serious photography, you were obliged to work in black-and-white. Color was the palette of commercial photography and snapshot photography.
My black-and-white work is more of a celebration, and the color work became more of a critique of society.
In New York, you have the street; in the U.K., we have the beach. I end up being like a migrating bird, being attracted to it.
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.
Margaret Thatcher was very good for the arts in so far as it gave people a real focus for something to be against.
