Artist Statement
For me, photography is a personal odyssey, a way of discovering my rooms and putting them in order. It is a way of living; it encompasses and totally pervades my life. It continues my education and takes me to places I would never otherwise go. I would not have ventured to Haiti, gone to Mexico for eleven years or to Italy for 12 consecutive years. Or to stand next to Mayor Bloomberg or Presidents Carter and Clinton. Or to meet and hopefully influence (a bit) thousands of wonderful students. Or to spend time with some of the best artists in America while working on my book, Artists Observed. Or to visit and photograph Coney Island for 40 years.
Photography takes me beyond myself yet paradoxically plunges me deeply into myself. It instructs me about the world and about myself. It gives me direction and purpose. It is my shrink, my anti-depressant, and my salvation. It scratches my creative and expressive urges. I truly believe it saved my life by giving me permission to be myself.
