Photographer's Statement

These images are part of a larger portfolio called “Democracy is In the Streets.” It began during the disputed presidential election of 2000, when demonstrations occurred almost weekly at the State Capital – about a 10-minute walk from my home. I began taking photographs, casually at first, then more and more intensely – looking closer. Then came September 11th, followed by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the demonstrations kept happening, the images kept appearing.

I became interested in how people who are passionate about their politics and about their country express that passion in the public arena. I saw anger, pride, humor, sadness, hope, and love. I have tried to convey some of those emotions in my pictures.

While I enjoy photographing landscapes with a large-format camera, the work I feel most passionate about is this work – real people in the real world, struggling, contending… being fully human.

I draw my inspiration from concerned photographers who have engaged the deep humanity of our fascinating but troubled world: Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, W. Eugene Smith, Susan Meiselas, Mary Ellen Mark, Sabastiao Salgado.

I have no pretensions that my photographs qualify as art. I just want them to speak clearly.