Earl, Mojave, 2020
When I first started making photographs, oh so long ago, I photographed everything and everyone. Everywhere I went I took my camera. I loved photographing people, but it was always after a conversation with them. Over the years that has never changed and I see absolutely no point in doing a ‘portrait’ of a random stranger without some kind of connection, or story about them. Take Earl, a man with a very colorful past who one day decided to set up a diner in the desert. He cooked the meals and always sat down with customers and spoke with them, including me on the many occasion when I was working on my Fridays Rainshadow project in the Mojave. I got to know him so well, a good portrait of him came naturally.
The way I approached Earl was no different as how I approach the landscape. You get to know it a little and then find the best way to portray it.
