I had a real itch. I was a young man, I had a real itch, and I liked the idea of traveling, so that was probably in my blood. And my mother was — I think I had that sort of itch, it was a bit frustrating, because she didn’t do any traveling. So, I think it was implanted in my head that traveling was something I should be doing. ((Cookie Cutter, See Through Into The Past, The Largest Farm)) Second thing was — it was during this counterculture period where a lot of people, including myself, rejected a lot of the American value system and felt that there’s more so called enlightenment outside of the country, so there was this mood to go to the — to India, to the Himalayas, to underdeveloped countries, to try to find so called more enlightened way of life. ((1960s, Epidemic))

So, there was — it was part of the culture at the time, so I was part of the culture. I wasn’t taking drugs or doing anything like that, but I mean I was part of that whole anti Vietnam, counter culture, anti-establishment youth. ((God Damn Independents)) I mean it inculcated my thinking in some levels, not on all levels, but some levels. I was also obsessed with photography, I mean from 18 years old. So, I wanted to get out there and take pictures, and my role models were Magnum people like Cartier-Bresson, street photography. ((Henri Cartier-Bresson)) And that’s a really different concept than what you see with a lot of young photographers these days. I mean very few of them look to the street to take their pictures. It’s all this sort of stagy stuff, Photoshop stuff, and so my photography developed from the street, from the so called real world. And I always feel that’s a better place to start, because there’s nothing like direct experience to add emotional wisdom.