Life Rarely Presents Fully Finished Photographs. An

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 Did A Story For The Geographic On Meriwether Lewis And William Clark, And Stephen Ambrose Was The Writer. He Said, "i've Got The Easiest Job In The World. I Just Have To Re-tell The Story Of The Greatest Fishing, Camping, Hunting, Canoeing Trip Of All Time. You, Sam, Have The Hardest Job, Which Is, Pretend Like Nothing Has Happened In The Last 200 Years.

There Are Grander And More Sublime Landscapes - To Me. There Are More Compelling Cultures. But What Appeals To Me About Central Montana Is That The Combination Of Landscape And Lifestyle Is The Most Compelling I've Seen On This Earth. Small Mountain Ranges And Open Prairie, And Different Weather, Different Light, All Within A 360-degree View.

I Had Luck, But I Worked Hard And I Suffered. It's Not Just Photography I'm Talking About. It's About Whatever Dream You Want It To Be.

I Started Teaching In '76 And I'd Been A Photographer At The Geographic For Six Years. But Prior To Being At The Geographic I Was A Teacher. Plus My Parents Were Teachers And My Brother And My Grandparents. So It Was The Culture Of Our Family To Think About Teaching, To Talk About Teaching, To Talk About Teachers.