We are one of the few animals whose main sense is their sight. By seeing, we understand. However, a stranger is just a stranger when time is fleeting and self-consciousness is ruling our thoughts and behavior. Photographs give us the time and privacy we need to understand the subject so that we can breach our individualism and recognize a strangers' humanity.  

     As I learned as a child, good academic educations and secure incomes do nothing to sway social ignorance, contempt and alienation. Upon leaving home at age 17, I took the world in as if gasping for air: relentlessly adventurous, nomadic and unafraid of death or harm. This was the period of my true education. I experienced hunger, homelessness and loyal camaraderie. Strangers were open books to a girl like me, and humanity carved an unforgettable place in me.