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A lot of people think that when you have grand scenery, such as you have in Yosemite, that photography must be easy.

I was accustomed to being in far, far riskier environments. So I thought going into that canyon was a walk in the park - there were no avalanches, it was a beautiful day and I was essentially just walking.

I can go into the wilderness and not see anyone for days and experience a kind of space that hasn't changed for tens of thousands of years. Having that experience was necessary to my perception of how photography can look at the changes humanity has brought about in the landscape. My work does become a kind of lament.

Over the years, I found myself traveling parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail, putting my hands in the river where they set out from St. Louis, viewing the Great Falls of Montana, standing by the same Pacific Ocean they saw with such joy.

The most interesting thing was looking out the window and taking photographs of different places on Earth.

I take all day to climb mountains and then spend about 10 minutes at the top admiring the view.

At some point during my travels, I had a slight change of focus which would end up defining the rest of my career. I began taking pictures of people. In addition to all the buildings, street signs and fire hydrants, I started photographing some of the interesting humans that passed by me on the street.

I had travelled pretty widely around the world even before then, so I knew where to go to film wildlife.

I've been in beautiful landscapes where one is tempted to whip out a camera and take a picture. I've learned to resist that.

I saw that my camera gave me a sense of connection with others that I never had before. It allowed me to enter lives, satisfying a curiosity that was always there but that was never explored before.