I've always been interested in photographing traditions and customs - especially in America. The prom is an American tradition, a rite of passage that has always been one of the most important rituals of American youth. It is a day in our lives that we never forget - a day full of hopes and dreams for our future.
~ Mary Ellen Mark
Nowadays shots are created in post-production, on computers. It's not really photography.
I work in colour sometimes, but I guess the images I most connect to, historically speaking, are in black and white. I see more in black and white - I like the abstraction of it.
I wanted to travel from the beginning. As a kid, I used to dream about airplanes, before I ever flew in one.
I knew from the first moment I picked up a camera, on my first school assignment, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was going to find a way to travel the world and tell the stories of the people I met through photographs.
During prom season, I travel around the country with a 20-by-24 camera - which is logistically complicated - and photograph proms. My husband made a film of it.
I'm a street photographer, but I'm interested in any ironic, whimsical images, and there's something very romantic about a circus.
Usually my ideas for work have revolved around my interest in people, especially people that live on the edges of society.
