Dennis Stock

I seek photo essay themes that I can really get to know. I worked as an assistant to Eugene Smith for two weeks in 1947, and adopted his credo to stay with a subject until he had seen it through to something complete; to be responsible to it, to find its true meaning. My real apprenticeship took place when I joined the staff of Gjon Mili, a Life Magazine contract photographer in the latter part of 1947, and continued until 1951. Mili taught me discipline and functioned as my surrogate father. Those four years formed the foundation of my ambition to distill the essence of a subject to its most articulate expression. The camera’s frame is incredibly important because it brings you into a smaller space where you can get rid of the extraneous and focus on the essence of the subject. It’s important not to be rigid, not to walk away if the subject doesn’t conform to your preconceptions. It’s essential to allow a process of discovery to take place. In the best of circumstances, it makes your heart race.