For Example, In My Dorm, At The

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.

Photographs That Transcend But Do Not Deny Their Literal Situation Appeal To Me.

My First Priority When Taking Pictures Is To Achieve Clarity. A Good Documentary Photograph Transmits The Information Of The Situation With The Utmost Fidelity; Achieving It Means Understanding The Nuances Of Lighting And Composition, And Also Remembering To Keep The Lenses Clean And The Cameras Steady.

Life Rarely Presents Fully Finished Photographs. An Image Evolves, Often From A Single Strand Of Visual Interest - A Distant Horizon, A Moment Of Light, A Held Expression.

Though Geographic Didn't Publish That Photo In The Story That It Was Done For, "the Life Of Charlie Russell," A Cowboy Artist In Montana. But Later, Maybe A Year And A Half Ago, They Named It One Of The 50 Greatest Pictures Ever Made At National Geographic.