The Unusual Wins Out Over The Usual.

Typically I See It With Photographers Who Go To A Place Like India Or Nepal, And Everything's So Colorful And Exotic And They Think, Therefore, A Picture's Been Taken.

I'm Interested In Smokers Standing On Ledges, And Big Box Stores, The Rise Of The Suburbs, And The Hollowing Out Of Small Towns. Self-storage. Things That Didn't Exist 50 Years Ago. Our Common Culture. What We Have Agreed Is Ok To Live With.

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.

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

People Say To Me, "who's Your Favorite Kind Of Photographer?" Or "who Would Be Your Favorite Photographer To Have In A Workshop?" And I Always Say, "my Dad."