You must understand yourself before you can understand others; thus, as a portrait photographer it is imperative to know yourself. The Ancient Greek called this gnothi seauton. Those words were inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the temple at Delphi.





This project initially started out as a exploration of one's own internal dialogue. As I asked questions to sitters , I noticed a change in the person's eyes depending on the type of question that was asked. It wasn't a physical change; it was something metaphysical. By looking into someone's eyes, I could tell if they were visualizing something in their head, having a conversation with themselves, or even daydreaming. I eventually pre-wrote different kinds of questions in order to create different kinds of responses. The questions ranged from what they would say at their mother's funeral, to what they would say if a record label executive was in front of them, and so on. As I asked these questions, I started to ponder my own questions. This began a process of self discovery. We fill our days so full, that we rarely have time to think about ourselves. Everyday, I began to write a few pages in order to discover more about me. For example, I explored why I loved to photograph. The revelations that came out of my writings, influenced not only the type of questions I asked sitters, but the way in which I asked them. It became less like an interview, and more like an intelligent meaningful conversation. After asking a question, I let the sitter answer the question in their own mind (internal dialogue). After a few minutes of silence, I told them how I would answer the question. This sparked a deep internal dialogue inside the sitter. The sitter compared and answered my own question. Sometimes this would lead to further discussion; other times it lead to more meaningful silence. By discovering myself and being able to express myself, I reached a different level of understanding and connection with the people I photographed. The photographs are the result of this deeper connection to these people. During these few minutes that I photographed, the sitter and I learned more about ourselves and thus about each other.