When I was a kid, I ran around with my grandma’s little 110 and took photos of her cats and tiger lilies and my bare feet in the dewy grass. My mom used to yell at me for wasting film. But I still have those shots pasted in my old pink photo album. Nothing is ever wasted. 

 

Initially, my main interest was street work. I wanted to photograph people unguarded. I wanted to illustrate them coming out of the deli or waiting for a train or kissing on a park bench: being themselves, going about their everyday life. Looking for these photos always told me something about people.

 

I didn’t go to school for photography, I went to school for writing, but I’m not self-taught, because I’ve learned from so many classes and masters. I’m still learning. From everyone I photograph, every event, I glean morsels that I feed right back into my work. And the thing I learn most indelibly, again and again? Is that I love people.