My camera is probably one of the reasons I'm so fond of this community. It's been my passport into every corner and allowed me to penetrate different circles that rarely intersect. Making a photograph because you see something that you want to hold on to and share with others is an honor that I cherish. It's made me feel incredibly bonded with my hometown and grateful to be here. Twenty years ago, when I first started showing some of these portraits to curators and editors, their reaction was always the same. 'Where exactly is this place? These people all look so interesting.' My favorite thing about photography is that it reveals the strange in the ordinary and the familiar in the unusual. The order and placement of the images in this book are based on this realization. I hope you enjoy the results." From the introduction by author/photographer, Mary Motley Kalergis.
