Newfoundland and I were a good match for each other. Because it was my first extensive project I could have been easily overwhelmed by a dramatic subject. But Newfoundland’s quietude--in color and character--well suited me.
Midway through my time there, and struggling, I encountered the work of the artist Christopher Pratt. His understated, rigorous and closely observed paintings of Newfoundland caught and held me. There was an authenticity and a clear personal style in his paintings that I wanted in my photographs. Eventually we met and one afternoon I photographed him working. He, his work and his studio exuded a pure atmosphere of art and breathing it for those few hours changed my life.