It's More Difficult Now, To Be A

[ My Time And Our Common Culture] It's What I'm Photographing, And I'm Very Involved With That.

In The Last Workshop I Taught, A Woman Flew In From Thailand. She's A Medical Doctor In Bangkok. I Asked Her In Her One-on-one Session Where She Wanted Photography To Be In Her Life.did She Want A Second Career? Was It About Earning Money? Or Was It Art? And She Said "none Of Those. I Want Photography To Be Serious In My Life." It Would Be Like Someone Wanting Music, Like Piano Playing, To Be A Richer, Deeper, And Maybe Even Harder Experience.

There Are A Lot Of Ways To Be Expressive In Life, But I Wasn't Good At Some Of Them. Music, For Instance. I Was A Distinct Failure With The Cello. Eventually, My Parents Sold The Cello And Bought A Vacuum Cleaner. The Sound In Our Home Improved.

Exotic Novelty. My Statement To [people] Is Always, Well, Set This Picture In Your Home Town, Is It Still An Interesting Picture? Or Is It Just Exotic? Would I Care About This Same Picture Minus Its Exoticism?

A Mad, Keen Photographer Needs To Get Out Into The World And Work And Make Mistakes.