Ultimately, the film [Dream of Life] is inspirational.

I like not knowing too much about somebody I'm photographing, because the process also becomes an experience for me to learn about .

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

Hopefully I can inspire lots of people to learn about [Patti Smith], to read poetry or learn about William Blake or Arthur Rimbaud.

I didn't do well in high school, but I took photography, and I loved being able to capture moments.

The editing process was a free-for-all, and since I hadn't gone to film [Dream of Life] school or anything like that, I just said, "We'll do this. We'll do that." It was a really great experience that way.

The film [Dream of Life] came together when we started editing; it was organic, it became nonlinear and it was its own animal. And I didn't want to tame it, either. I wanted it to be different. It's not your typical documentary.