"When I was young I was fool. I thought too much. Fortunately I did not say it out loud. If I had, the echo would horrify me to this day." J.S.

"I did not have good grades in school and everybody predicted I'd wind up on the gallows or if I was lucky I'd become a shepherd. This did not much upset me, after all what's nicer than to have a job in the open air." J.S.

"When the war came, the First World War, I had to go to the front in Italy. The landscape was beautiful – as long as there was no shooting." J.S.

"The war destroyed my arm, later I lost it. Of course I didn't enjoy that, but I was consoling myself that at least I didn't loose my head. That would have been worse." J.S.

"One shouldn't ask too many questions but do what one does properly, never rush, and never torment oneself." J.S.

"I believe a lot in instinct. One should never dull it by wanting to know everything." J.S.

"I don't have many people in my photographs, especially in the landscapes. To explain this, you see, it takes me a while before I prepare everything. Sometimes there are people there, but before I'm ready they go away, so what can I do, I won't chase them back." J.S.