Juergen Teller

I wasn't aware it could make me rich or famous. I just wanted to take pictures.

I don't really like being controlled by anyone.

When you're a kid, what you learn in school about being German has a sort of heaviness about it, and you have a sort of guilt with you.

I would never ask somebody to do something where I felt that it's not right or it puts someone in an uncomfortable position.

Nudity is no big deal as a German. It's all rather normal and boring.

I think it's really important to not be afraid of failure and to push yourself to try things and jump in the cold water.

I'm interested in the person I photograph. The world is so beautiful as it is; there's so much going on, which is sort of interesting. It's just so crazy, so why do I have to put some retouching on it? It's just pointless to me.

If I do a portrait, I know what they can take. If somebody's a sweet, shy person, the photographs will be sweet and shy. Of course, you ask people to do something which they might not have done before, but that's the journey, the fun element.

When you have your own kid, it suddenly makes you more aware of how your parents treated you and educated you. Your relationships with your partner, your uncles, your mother all change; you're more conscious of where you came from, of where your roots are. I find that very interesting.

My father and one of my grandfathers died very early, and female figures have been an influential part of my life.

When I became a father, all that stuff rose up again from the back of my mind. I suddenly realised how uninvolved my father had been in my life.

Family is a major part of my life.