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

Photography is humbling, it really is, and it really allows for me to atone for some of the missteps I've made throughout the course of my life.

The images of war inspired me to create, to go to different situations and communities, to document the human side of people, to show a side that we don't see.

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.

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.

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

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.