When I was in high school I used to hang up signs in the hallway that questioned what we were being taught, questioned the rules of the school and the authority of the teachers and principals. I either never got caught or the people in charge didn't see it as a big deal. But they did rip down the signs. When I went to art school I began doing this on paper and canvases. I also tried some things with photography. Often the criticism was that my message either wasn't clear enough or too blatantly clear that the impact was lost. I wasn't really sure how to find that balance. I was thinking about this recently and wondering when my work made a change from this to what it is now and have I learned anything--are my pieces still too vague or too 'upside the head' to be taken seriously. I think that when I began only making work for myself, ie not for professors or potential galleries...that my work became less about having an edge and more of an inner dialogue. I find this important in journalism too---the idea in journalism is to be a vessel in which a story is told through...I think in my personal work I still feel this might be when my work is at its best--when I let myself go and let serendipity play a role, let possibility enter in and don't just illustrate an idea--my work takes on more meaning--at least to me. This is a self portrait I did 16 or 17 years ago. I guess we all sometimes feel we're muzzled and not allowed to have our voice. I know Harmony and I feel this at times when we see our photographs appearing in the next morning paper with words and boxes pasted over the top of them. We feel this softens and even takes away our voice--our best ability to communicate all because of a 'design idea' that doesn't help in the story telling process--in fact we believe it hinders the storytelling process. And sometimes we're not listened to when we believe one picture conveys a story better than another. These do frustrate us because we put so much thought and so much of ourselves into telling other peoples stories that when we don't see these living up to potential...it leaves us shaking our head. I question many things still to this day, and I guess even though I find myself pounding my head against the same wall over and over again....if I don't it will never get changed. At least I hope somehow--someway the true messages will eventually get through. Photograph by Richard Sayer.