"I confess that Roy was a little bit dictatorial in his editing and he ruined quite a number of my pictures, which he stopped doing later. He used to punch a hole through a negative. Some of them were incredibly valuable. He didn't understand at the time"

In this quote, Ben Shahn is confessing that his colleague Roy had a tendency to be managing and authoritarian in his technique to editing. This led to Roy making changes to much of Shahn's pictures, eventually ruining them. Nevertheless, Shahn keeps in mind that Roy ultimately stopped this behavior. Shahn also points out that Roy would physically harm the negatives of a few of his photos, which were of terrific value. Shahn thinks that Roy did not fully understand the significance of these photos at the time. Overall, this quote highlights the tension and struggles that can arise in a collaborative innovative process, as well as the importance of understanding and respecting the value of another's work.