The Unusual Wins Out Over The Usual.

It's A Little Bit Like Talking About The Life Of Writing. The Life Of Writing May Be About Many Things, But It Always Begins With The Writer. With The Kernel Of An Idea, Or A Character, Or An Idea Or A Theme, Or Even An Outcome. But For Documentary Photographers, Photographs Begin At That Intersection Of The Real World And The Imaginative Inner World.

I Did A Story For The Geographic On Meriwether Lewis And William Clark, And Stephen Ambrose Was The Writer. He Said, "i've Got The Easiest Job In The World. I Just Have To Re-tell The Story Of The Greatest Fishing, Camping, Hunting, Canoeing Trip Of All Time. You, Sam, Have The Hardest Job, Which Is, Pretend Like Nothing Has Happened In The Last 200 Years.

I'm Interested In Smokers Standing On Ledges, And Big Box Stores, The Rise Of The Suburbs, And The Hollowing Out Of Small Towns. Self-storage. Things That Didn't Exist 50 Years Ago. Our Common Culture. What We Have Agreed Is Ok To Live With.

I Now Want To Be A Photographer Of My Time, And Our Common Culture.

I Wanted Life To Be Episodic. I Wanted To Be A Magazine Photographer And I Was Willing To Do What It Took To Become That.