And what excites me most is the type of public, the fact that the Parisian people have a broader cultural understanding than many Americans do.

Each time I did assignments or editorials, I realized that I wanted to do something more. I saw that it wasn't just about the clothes.

Being an American is about having the right to be who you are. Sometimes that doesn't happen.

Well, I liked it - that was the main thing. I liked it, but I didn't think of it in terms of a career. I didn't really know; I didn't really think about it. One thing just led to another until finally I quit my job as a salesman and found myself working as a photographer.

I always enjoyed art history because, growing up in California, my exposure was limited, and it was a new experience. To learn the history of art opened up certain things to me, made me see. It intrigued me.

What I particularly liked was that, coming from California and not being involved in the New York scene, I developed my personal way, in my own way, at my own pace.

Today a lot of things are so celebrity-oriented; it's only because it's celebrity and the photograph is lost. To me it's important to have an image that is a photograph first, not about necessarily who that person is.