For the most part, as a society, we are not happy with ourselves.

There is just something about the common being. My education pretty much came from the streets, just connecting with people, different cultures. I gained the wealth just engaging at that level. I'm still like that. I continue to document everyday people versus the stars.

I remember growing up and hearing the word "ugly" a lot. "I'm ugly." "She ugly." "He ugly." I hated it then, and I hate it now. I go past physical beauty; I tell people they have a beautiful spirit and that is something different.

For me, the stars are the invisible people on the street that people don't really get a chance to know.

I think that's what the war photography did for me. It showed me the human side of people and how certain circumstances can change people's lives.

I wanted to go amongst gangbangers, to understand this war they were fighting amongst each other. I wanted to document it, [also] to show the human side of it.

What I strive to do through my work, is to teach compassion. You need to have a lot of it, in this day and time, and it's lacking.