As a fashion photographer in New York City my days were often filled with either meeting or photographing young women, and though I did grow to love beautiful clothes and exquisitely made-up faces, what always interested me most was the human being beneath the decor. Not just her body, but her soul. Very few fashion photographs reveal much of anything about the model, beyond her draped and painted exterior, so inevitably, I suppose, I drifted away from fashion photography.

Today I can't shoot any 'ol beauty anymore than I can explain to people why I would want to photograph a naked young woman in the first place. The process of searching for her though has reminded me of who she is; and a rare creature is she indeed. She is a woman-child; natural, fearless and pure of heart, who would thrill at running wild and naked before a camera, for example, for the simple joy and pure adventure of it! She is what many of us would be if we didn't allow the restraints of our particular and peculiar society hold us to the ground. There are those who think I am delusional, that such a creature does not exist, but ah she does! for but a wisp of time, yes she does! not yet ruined by the crushing world, yet unburdened by a single neurotic quiver. One magically appeared the other day, then squirled around impishly on a giant stuffed chair for me, white skin shining against purple velure, flawless except for a pair of freshly banged up knees.

I am continually amazed at how much the camera can reveal about both the person in front and behind the lens. The photographer might, but the camera, as they say, doesn't lie. I believe that human beings are moved most by the truth. The deeper a photographer can penetrate into the soul of a man, including his own, perhaps the more truth he can discover and then express to his audience. This is my goal at any rate. I photograph all kinds of people these days, but particularly challenging is the female nude, because most of the photographs of her don't tell the truth. They continue conditioning us into associating her only with sex; yet she is much, much more than that, is she not?