I love to watch people. I love to watch them on the street, in cafes, at home, getting out of the car, and on their cell phones. I love to watch my family, friends, co-workers, and strangers. I love to watch the elderly, children, teenagers, and adults. I love to watch their hands, ears, faces, and ankles. I love to see the light play on the curve of cheeks, shadows of brows, and turns of shoulders. I love to watch people move: to walk, trot, stroll, meander, and dance. I love to see them shrug, slump, perk up. I love to see them talk with their hands. I love to watch people when they think no one’s looking.
Sometimes, I catch a moment — usually very brief—when people let show a tiny bit of their true selves: a wrinkle in the forehead, twist of the nose, a jaunt of exclamation. Each person has that aspect within them—I love to be there when they let it out.
I find recording interviews particularly compelling. Interview subjects simultaneously perform for the camera while attempting to hide or protect the more tender parts of themselves. The dance of interaction is incredibly complex and its difficult to catch everything that occurs in the moment, or remember it all in exact detail. Recording gives me the opportunity to study it later, as many times as I’d like. There is a real joy in discovering I’ve been lucky enough to capture a genuine moment when a person’s personality and intellect shine through – when the recording authentically conveys a real sense of who someone is through a gesture, expression or choice of words.