How so?
Because you're not quite sure what he's doing. It connotes, perhaps, a religious experience. But you're not really sure. He's looking away, out of the photograph. Then off to the right is his hat. So it just asks a few questions. It's a little mysterious, and…it's very, very quiet.
We thought about using an 'in your face' kind of photograph, because there are some of those in the book as well. At first, we had an opposite kind of picture that was very sensuous, graphic. Then we thought that it would take you off in another direction. So I think the point of both the photographs—the one on the cover, and the one on the back—was to leave you with a little feeling of mystery and be surprised by perhaps some of the other imagery that you see in the book.
You've said that you primarily use a Leica, a small, simple, and expensive 35mm camera made in Germany. There are not very many extras to it. What's the philosophy behind your equipment choices?
I have always been a firm believer in simplicity—simplicity in the way that I approach people. And one of the ways that I approach people, in terms of my own persona when I'm talking to people, is to use equipment that is very clean, and simple, and unobtrusive. I've always been a believer in one camera, one lens, one film. For one thing, it makes life easier for me. And I think it makes life easier for my subjects. They tend not to be afraid of the equipment that I have because it's minimal and it allows me to go out there on the edge from an artistic standpoint as well. So, less is more.
And does that come from Cartier-Bresson, the French giant of 20th-century photography?
I think Henri Cartier-Bresson was the first photographer who I really admired. And one of his basic tenets, from the way he worked, was one camera, one lens, one film, one paper. I read that, and I believed that. It made sense. In practice, it's worked for me. It wasn't just something that I stuck to because he said it. But that was certainly the first time that I heard it. It just happened to fit in with the way I was feeling about things anyway.
When I first came to National Geographic… I kind of used a lot of equipment for two or three years. Then I quickly went back and thought: "I really don't need to do this. I can keep things simple." From then on, I did.
You're now trying digital photography. How do you think that differs from this "one film, one camera, one lens philosophy" that you have?
Well, I've done a little bit of experimenting with digital photography. Whether that actually enters my professional life, I have no idea. Because I don't know enough about it—I've just been working with it a little bit. But even with that, the first thing that I tried to do when I picked up the digital camera was to simplify it.
In other words, there are God-knows-how-many combinations on that digital camera. I immediately reduced it down to two or three things that I saw would work really well. I light-balanced it out. I put it in one mode, and I just stayed there. I did use only one lens with the digital camera as well. But still, I think film is the medium for me—for my serious work.
What do you hope to communicate through your photos? What do you hope people experience?
Well, I have two aspects to my work. One is that I'm a magazine photographer, by trade, by profession, by career. In that sense, I'm trying to communicate things to viewers—readers of a magazine, but namely National Geographic, because they probably are not going to go to these places. So there's a basic desire just to communicate on a basic level. Then there's another side, where I'm trying to communicate on a more subliminal level with the subtleties of light, moment, and emotional experience.
Getting back to your book, it covers the whole of Latin American or Hispanic Diaspora. What is it about that area of the world that so captivates you?
I think I became interested in the Spanish migration—or Diaspora, if you will—into the Americas quite by accident. I was given an assignment at National Geographic, that I was totally unqualified for, on the Maya in the Yucatán, in Mexico. And I just got caught up in it. I think anyone would. I got caught up in the archaeology, the science that the Maya had. But mostly I got caught up with the anthropology and the history that led up to the current cultural anthropology with the Maya. Then I went back to Spain—back in the sense that I was going back to where the conquistadors had come from in the first place. I kept going back and forth. It just became a subject that was fascinating to me.
Will you continue to focus on this region, and these people?
Well, I've been in love with the Spanish/Portuguese Diaspora for so long, I can't imagine myself losing interest in it. But I've got a couple of other projects now. I've got two more books coming. Actually, Divided Soul is kind of the first in a trilogy… so my interest is going to be in the next two books. But how could I ever not stay involved with this subject? I just probably won't be doing another book on it, that's all.
What will your other books cover?
Well, I can't tell you that (laughs). The next two books will be completely different, but connected. In other words, Divided Soul will lead to book number two. Some of the characters may move forward, as any trilogy does. Then the last book will sort of wrap it all up.
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