I’ve been in a lot of interesting places and situations over the years on assignment: one day I’ll be photographing the U.S. Marshals, and then the next I’ll be on-set for a hip-hop video, or at a robotics competition, or following a bounty hunter through the Louisiana backwoods. It’s an addictive way of life. But because of all the travel — taxis, planes, rental cars, so many hotels — there’s not always a lot of time for prep work or research (or maybe I’m just a bit lazy/tired), although I’ve come to embrace this way of shooting. It works for me, the naïveté of not knowing. Of showing up, honestly reacting to a situation, and making photographs accordingly. I mention this because I was asked to write a brief text to accompany this portfolio of images — originally taken on assignment for The New York Times Magazine over two days in Greensboro, North Carolina, when junior high schools were introducing tablets into their classrooms for the first time — and these are my selections from the shoot. While at the school, all this great stuff started happening when the students began playing with the tablets and relating to this new tool/ toy: the greasy fingerprints across the screens, the kids hiding themselves in the lockers. When I’m photographing, I feel like I can never make anything up that’s better than discovering what’s actually happening; reality is the best. Some of these photographs were published in the article, but many were not.
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