Compassion is also important for me. I’m very close to the Buddhist way of thinking, and usually I like the people that I photograph. I don’t like photographing people that I don’t like. And I’m not very good at denouncing things. I’m full of admiration for someone like Martin Parr, for instance, who denounces tourism or consumerism, but I’m not very good at that.

But you have always struck me as a campaigning photographer. I’m thinking of the photographs you’ve taken of old people, and the work you’ve done in Tibet.

Yes, I prefer the word “campaigning” to “critical.” The whole process of ageing is very interesting, and yes, that was definitely campaigning. I’d like to keep working on old age.

Some people might think that you’re a rather old-fashioned photographer. You continue to work mostly in black-and-white.

I work in color if I have to, but when I have the choice I work in black-and-white.

Is that a question of honoring a tradition?

No, I just prefer it. I don’t know whether it’s a question of my generation or what, but I feel very comfortable in black-and-white, especially for portraits. I think that color is unnecessary in portraiture.

And you’ve maintained a compositional instinct that some say reflects the fact that you were originally a student of art history.

Well, I do come from a background of looking at painting. And I think composition is important. But it’s instinctive [in my work]; I don’t try and make a certain sort of composition, I just have it in me.

Martine, you’ve tackled a huge range of subjects in your time. Are there any new subjects that you look forward to working on?

The problem of refugees is something that I’d like to get involved with. Being displaced from your home country, and having to readapt for a new world—I find that very poignant. I’m not a war photographer but I’m full of admiration for people who go into combat and work with people under stress. That’s something that really interests me. More than actual war, it’s the aftermath of war, the consequences of war. That is something I have to do.