Coming from California and growing up where I did, I've always had a fondness for and innate sensitivity to light, texture, and warmth.

I think knowing people by first names, not by what they do sexually, is really what it's about. Not being afraid. Fear is the enemy. I've always been comfortable with being gay.

I abstract it in my photographs: I like large planes and spaces, areas of texture and light, like deserts or oceans or monumental places.

The education, the cultural awareness, is different in Europe, especially in France, from that in the United States. So I think the public will be much more appreciative of many images.

Many people who excel are self-taught.

For me, the most important thing I learned was just honing my eye. I think I had a good eye.

I think a lot of the time these days people are so concerned about having the right camera and the right film and the right lenses and all the special effects that go along with it, even the computer, that they're missing the key element.

Each time I did assignments or editorials, I realized that I wanted to do something more. I saw that it wasn't just about the clothes.

I did grow up next door to Steve McQueen, who was a very famous movie star at the time, but as a kid it didn't impress me. We always had great fun with him. He would take us out on Sundays on his motorcycles, riding around in the desert he was like a second father.

To me it's just going for the moment that counts. Sometimes, I'll have all the elements there, and I like to play and push something, and to me, in the end, you do achieve things that you're not aware of in the beginning, even though you're there trying to get them.

I was an economics major, which I enjoyed because I had a good business sense.

Even though I didn't get a business degree, I enjoyed learning about economics.

Regardless of whether you speak the language or are familiar with a culture, the picture should hold up.

I like form and shape and strength in pictures.