My only agenda is to bring attention to otherwise ignored and shunned lives.

The photograph is kind of a proof - a proof that I actually met these people, that they actually have lives, and that they're worth considering.

Since 1970, I've been using text and ephemera as well as photographs in order to tell stories of one kind or another. There's a thread that runs through all the work that is to do with bearing witness. The photographs are about asking questions, though, not answering them.

Every single immigrant is part of a larger history that needs to be communicated in all its ambivalences and complexities.

I use my intuition. I tell my students: use your brains, but also use another part of yourself.