From my diary, 21st February 1983
As far as black and white composition is concerned, I believe that I have pretty well integrated the rules – in the sense that I now apply them unconsciously, almost as a computer runs a program. I have learnt to organise forms, light, bodily attitudes or facial expressions, just as I know how to position words in a sentence. But colour photography has its own rules and requires its own balances, of which I am not always aware and that I only begin to understand. In my previous colour photography (including ‘Portraits of trees’ and ‘Very Similar’) I have often been more concerned about avoiding unwanted colour than eager to seize the opportunities that the situation provided – as if I wasn’t ready for the challenge. But the palette of New York is too rich, colour must be allowed to have its say. Learning how to speak this language may turn out to be the main return from this project.
1983, New York, subway station, uptown
