[Photography records] a fragmentary sensation that you intuit as being potential. All these are vague — fragmentary, potential, intuition — they’re not substantial, but they are essential. They are what define you as the being you are and the artist you are.

So if you’re looking to be a photographic artist, then you’re going to be searching for your identity on the street. You’re not looking for pictures, you’re looking for what is it that makes me go “a ha!”, because that is inspiration […] which means your sensory being has been shocked by something in front of you that manifests itself out of the chaos of everyday reality. You’re looking for these moments of transformation.

— Joel Meyerowitz, The Big Interview, Monocle