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I never wanted to be called an artist. I wanted to be called a photographer.

I've always considered myself a nonfiction artist.

I couldn't have been the novelist I was without being the journalist I was.

I have a journalism degree, but I'd rather be the person who is being written about rather than the person who is writing.

Art is not journalism. In art, you don't make it to convey a message.

I don't think I ever wanted to be a journalist - I was more interested in what comes from being a journalist.

I'm sure I would have been considered a more significant artist if I was a singer-songwriter. It's just not the way I roll. I love being a curator and a musicologist. People write me letters and thank me for turning them on to Fred McDowell and Sippie Wallace, and that's partly my job this time around.

I became a journalist because one didn't have to specialise.

Many people misunderstand me - I'm quite happy to be called a photographer. All of a sudden, the art world has caught up with photography, and they are trying to hijack us.