"In all the years that I have photographed people, I have always been responsive to a sentiment aptly expressed by Magnum photographer Burk Uzzle: ‘A good photographer gives, while a bad photographer takes.' Remembering those words in the dark days after Katrina, when so many had so little, I often asked the people I met if there was anything they needed from Baton Rouge. The requests were always modest and ran the gamut from red meat to boiling water to make a cup of coffee. One man said he'd sell his soul for a hot sausage po-boy, and of course the Cat Lady asked nothing for herself, just a bag of 9Lives. The portraits were made with a 5 x 7-inch Deardorff view camera. The reason I work in this manner is twofold: the clarity and detail of the end result is extraordinary, and the visual process of setting the composition while under a 'dark cloth' is only one phase of the photographic progression. The other phase comes once the lens is closed, and the film holder is in place, as I stand next to the camera quietly conversing with the subject. Whether it comes from a kindness we share, or from a moment that seems inexplicably right, through the mechanics of releasing the shutter, I hope to capture imagery that encompasses what these people endured, and the anticipation they have for what lies ahead. --excerpted from the book