It took 12 years to put this film [Dream of Life] together, but it was not until toward the end of those 12 years that I looked at Patti [Smith] and said, "Maybe we should do something with this footage."

I shot [Dream of Life] all on 16-millimeter, and I just wanted to learn about Patti [Smith].

It took 12 years to put this film [Dream of Life] together, but it was not until toward the end of those 12 years that I looked at Patti [Smith] and said, "Maybe we should do something with this footage."

I didn't do well in high school, but I took photography, and I loved being able to capture moments. It led to more and more photography, and fashion was the angle into photography for me. It was incredible to see photographs by Irving Penn or Helmut Newton. I was really intrigued by that, and that's what led me to New York City.

For me, moving from photography to film was very easy.

I was making a film [Dream of Life] about Patti [Smith], but I was taking pictures, too.

We just grew to trust each other [with Patti Smith] more and more over the years. Most of the time I didn't even have a movie camera.