"He doesn't speak much English, so you'll need a translator at the shoot."

"Once you meet him, he may or may not agree to the shoot."

"You can call him Paul, but that's not his real name."

"We want a good portrait of him, but you can't show his face or anything else that will identify him."

These were the instructions I received on this recent story I worked on for The Washington Post Magazine that was published on Sunday. I was again working with one of my favorite photo editors, Evan Jane Kriss who stressed the sensitivity of the situation and the very real possibility that the subject might back out of the shoot.

I met Paul and the translator outside of a metro stop in DC. Paul is a Cameroonian refugee and victim of torture who escaped from his country after being brutally beaten by members of the police force. Reporter Phil Zabriskie had been talking to him and other torture victims over the past year in working on this story.

We spoke for a bit and he agreed to be photographed at his home. I had been experimenting most of the day with different lighting setups involving silhouettes, blown highlights and other visual tricks that would conceal his face, but when we arrived at the small room that he rented from a family, it was clear he wanted the photos taken quickly, with minimal setup.

The room was dimly lit and I was able to set up a few hot lights to bring up the levels a bit before shooting the portraits. I had seen a street lamp outside that I thought might make for a good setup as well and we shot there briefly before wrapping up. Looking at these photos now, I'm not so sure that the complicated lighting setups would've done much justice to him or the modest bedroom where he lived, thousands of miles away from his family.

The story also brought me to Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma in Baltimore, where amazing work is being done in helping torture victims deal with the traumatic situations they've been through. Karen Hansom and Mary Cogar exemplify the good that can be done in helping other people.

As we were wrapping up with Paul, he smiled and said something to the translator.

"Paul just heard from his family yesterday. They've been granted visas and will be coming to America."

You can read Phil's story here, and below are a few more of my favorite photos.








Karen Hanscom and Mary Cogar of Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma

The Conservative Political Action Conference had a different flavor this year, as the Republican Party grapples with how to embrace Tea Party-ers who bring some serious energy and fund-raising power to a very important election year.

Photographing events like this let me experience some of my very favorite feelings about photography, specifically the ability to peek into a world that feels far removed from my own. And without getting too Family of Man here, these little explorations continually remind me of our commonalities.

Of course, CPAC also brings out the fringe, far-right groups, and this year, they seemed to occupy a larger seat at the table than ever before.

I'm also pleased as punch to announce that my work is now syndicated through Redux Pictures, an agency I've long admired from afar. So in addition to some of my favorites that I've posted below, the full take of my 2010 CPAC photos can be seen in their archive.

The Mid-Atlantic has been hit hard with snow this week and as I sit typing this, the second storm in a week is just beginning. Somehow, our street still hasn't been plowed, making for two challenging photo shoots in the last two days as I've had to budget an extra hour or so of time to dig the car out and slowly make my way downtown. Here's a short time lapse of Saturday-Sunday as snow storm #1 hit.

On the plus side, there's nothing better than walking down the middle of the road at night through fresh snow, holding my son as he looks out on this bright, new world.

US Department of The Treasury Building for BusinessWeek

I've been working the past few weeks on a series of portraits for the new issue of (Bloomberg) BusinessWeek and was happy to see how everything came out when my issue arrived yesterday. The shoots brought me down to Capitol Hill twice, the Federal Reserve, FCC and finally to the Treasury Building where a planned day of shooting interiors turned into a day shooting the outside of the building. I've been thinking a little about the nature of these interactions with politicians and other public figures and to what degree I should (or can) impose some level of control on them.

Senators Bob Corker and Mark Warner for BusinessWeek

Most of my working method involves finding an interesting setting or visual idea, placing the subject into this space and seeing what happens. Besides some minor direction in terms of posture and directing their gaze, I tend to let the subject settle naturally into whatever pose or expression feels right to them.


Pat Parkinson for BusinessWeek

The problem with this is that for all the control I impose with the lighting and environment, I'm leaving the more interesting elements like body language and expression to the subject. In some ways, I think this approach comes from my photojournalistic background, where I never controlled a subject or photo and was always content to just hang tight and wait for things to happen. The issue here lies with the media savvy politician who is hyper aware of how they're are portrayed and will rarely give me something meaningful to work with.

At least, that's how I used to think.

The more basic truth is that we are all human (I know, I know, is it possible to be more obvious?) and that it's just plain difficult for even the most seasoned public figure to completely stage manage their life and how they're portrayed. Furthermore, subjects continually surprise me in how they act in front of the camera, often doing way more interesting things than I could ever have planned for. Just like in photojournalism, it goes back to the personal connection with the subject, anticipating the real moments and being honest and upfront with them about your desire to create something meaningful.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski for BusinessWeek

And if your subject decides to use the time scheduled for your photo shoot to hold a meeting with their communications director, maybe the best you'll get is them adjusting their tie.

All of these shoots resulted in some more shots I liked, here are a few of them.