I slowly began making a few photos with animals over the years, and I liked how people reacted to them. When I would have the animals on set, I'd notice the way the models would interact with them and there was so much true emotion that you rarely see between two human beings.
I know that my mind is so A.D.D., and I want instant gratification - and photography can provide me with that - but at some point, I want to make an independent feature.
Everyone I'm photographing, I feel like I'm remaking a family, in a way. My brothers and sisters are my heroes. So many of my models resemble them.
I was growing up in the suburbs; I was one of eight kids. So I did have a community when I was younger, but all of my brothers and sisters were older.
All my work, really, is based on my brothers and sisters. I had so many adventures with them and a big part of the work is to recreate those. It's easy for me to be around a lot of people, because I can retreat. I can watch everything.
I went through a pretty big David Bowie period when I was younger, and that has affected me profoundly in my life and my work.
I'm just a photographer, not a movie star.
The thing about being a photographer that's so cool is that you get to participate, but you also get to disappear. The camera is in front of your face all the time.
I can work with shyness, but for the most part I want people to feel comfortable with me. It's really more about the photographer feeing comfortable right when they walk in that makes the subject feel comfortable.
My dad was in the Korean War. He got shot seven times. He had seven bullet holes in him. And out of his troop of 35 guys, he was one of nine guys that came back. And when he came back from that he had seven kids in seven years.
There was no luxury. I never got on an airplane until I was 18. We drove everywhere. My dad was like, "Waste not, want not."
I was pretty Irish Catholic Jersey, the middle of the line.
I couldn't wait to come to New York to reinvent myself.
A lot of my close friends have committed suicide or died of heroin overdoses.
What I really believe is that there are no coincidences anymore.
You find the people that you need to find. There's this gravitational pull.
Whatever emotions you're going through, you somehow seek out the people that are going through similar emotions or that maybe have something you need.
Just being friends with people now for over 15 years, you realize what we all came out of. What we came out of was the intense feeling of growing up. It sounds kind of cliché, but it's true.
A camera gives you a purpose.
I think a lot about control nowadays, and I really want to let go and just be more in the moment.
The camera gives you some control.
When I moved to New York, I was still in the closet.
Everyone started to have a camera. That's when I started to travel outside of New York and go into nature.
I really don't want to be part of just one group. I'm interested in doing everything - making music videos, shooting campaigns, having -gallery and museum shows, making movies. Everyone wants to put you in a box, and I'm afraid I'm not that kind of person.
The cool part about New York is that you can do that. You can talk to all the people you admire.