[ My Time And Our Common Culture]

My Dad Took A Workshop From A Photographer Who Worked At The Toledo Blade, A Newspaper I Delivered. I Knew This Photographer's Work. My Dad Took A Night Class From Him At The University Of Toledo. Without That Class, I Wouldn't Have Become A Photographer, Because My Dad Came Home And Taught Me What He Learned In Class.

My Father Taught Me Photography. It Was His Hobby, And We Had A Small Darkroom In The Fruit Cellar Of Our Basement. It Was The Kind Of Makeshift Darkroom That Was Only Dark At Night.

The Thing With My Workshops Is, Photography Is A Thoughtful Process. In An Atmosphere Of Fast Photography, And Generally Thoughtless, Quick, Automatic Photography, I Think That There Is An Interest In The Slowed Down, Thoughtful Approach.

I Started Teaching In '76 And I'd Been A Photographer At The Geographic For Six Years. But Prior To Being At The Geographic I Was A Teacher. Plus My Parents Were Teachers And My Brother And My Grandparents. So It Was The Culture Of Our Family To Think About Teaching, To Talk About Teaching, To Talk About Teachers.

I'm Very Involved In Photographing America Now, So I Don't Think Of Faraway Places, As I Did When I Was Young.