People I Knew / Didn't Know

This collection is gathered from a set of portraits that I printed in 2010. The pictures cover a period of over thirty years; the oldest representing some of my earliest
serious encounters with photography. The realization that I loved making pictures of people occurred very near to my stumbling upon the twin lens camera which produces a square picture. The camera is held at the waist and the photographer looks
down into the top of the camera—a gesture very much like staring down at one’s own feet—while the subject’s gaze is held on the camera’s ground glass. This way of working suited me very well back then and it still does. All the pictures here were made using this type of camera.

Though making portraits has become the basis of my livelihood as a freelance photographer, this collection represents an aspect of portraiture that is different
in subtle but important ways from much of that work in that none of these pictures were planned or scheduled and all were made free of commercial obligation or
outside expectations.

I continue to be grateful to everyone who has let me stand in front of them and
make a picture... no small gift.