Norman Alley, after forty years behind a camera, describing his philosophy when it comes to news photography in a 1956 interview:

“While he has photographed some of the most dramatic pictures of events of the twentieth century, Alley likes to think of himself as a reporter who uses a camera instead of a pencil. He leaves the artistic and scientific approaches to cinematography to those who have the time, and the inclination, to be arty and scientific.

“I know little about the chemistry of photography, never studied composition and never read a manual on lighting,” he explains. “My aim is simply to be at the right place at the right time, focus my camera and press the button. I never let the mechanics of my camera bother me, because I don’t want anything to interfere with my getting a clear, simple picture.”