Something I often think about in regard to not only photography but to almost all facets of working in the entertainment industry, is how resolutely we straddle the line between Blue-Collar and White-Collar work. There are a few other exceptions, but most jobs in America fall into either one category or the other. And stay there.

Artists and entertainers, not so much. Depending on the nature of my current project or shoot, there are some days when it would be completely inadvisable for you to invite me to have dinner with you “after work.” Unless you want to dine across from someone who is absolutely filthy and most likely covered in sweat, with grass stains on his jeans and mud on his shoes, then this is probably a bad idea. But if you've happened to call me on a day when I’m photo editing in my office, in that case, dinner is back on the table! Name the time and place.

Whenever I see an artist at a gallery opening or premiere, and they are all dressed up, I always think about how this version of themselves is the exception rather than the rule. Similarly, when I see an entertainer’s luxurious home in the Hollywood or Beverly Hills, it’s always interesting to remember that for a good portion of the year, they don’t really live there. They live in a trailer or a tour bus. People will say, "oh, but that’s just their temporary living quarters." Okay, but when you spend 75% of the year living in your “temporary” accommodations, where is your “real” home? Which is the “real” you? The one that lives in a trailer, or the one that lives in a mansion?

When put like this, the life of an artist or entertainer sort of sounds like a wish granted by a mischievous leprechaun, doesn’t it? “You can have this luxurious life and extravagant house, the only catch is, for the majority of the year, you don’t get to live there.”

I’m going to take this idea even a step further, to something I reckon even less people think about -- the employees at correctional facilities. Even the brief amounts of time I’ve SPENT IN JAIL cells over the course of my life has been enough to make me realize that all those people working in the jails? The correctional officers and administrative employees and janitors and wardens? Yeah. They’re all in jail, too!

Sure, they’re on the other side of the bars, but it’s not like it’s all fun and games and posh over there on their side, it’s painfully obvious that it’s just as disgusting and depressing over where they are as well. And the “co-workers” they get to see each day and interact with on a daily basis are not just their fellow coworkers, it’s also the criminals and dregs of society that have been put in their care.

Of course, the primary difference between the jail workers and the criminals is that the workers are there by choice and get to leave each day and go home, but the true miracle is that any of them ever make the decision to get up the next day and return. Jail is awful, regardless of which uniform you're wearing.

Some people enjoy repetition and routine, and that’s great; but for me, I have always maintained that the biggest appeal of being a photographer is the constant variety of pathways and journeys I find myself on. No day is ever the same, and the ongoing juxtaposition of White-Collar and Blue-Collar work helps to add balance to my life. It’s funny, but on the days when I’m stuck in my air conditioned office behind a computer, editing photos, I often get restless and lonely and long to be somewhere out on location; and then when I’m out shooting in the 100+ degree heat or PICKING UP DOG POOP, I sometimes dream about being back in my cold, comfy office chair.

This might sound hard to believe, and please don’t forevermore think I’m crazy— but there was a part of me that cherished every second I spent in LA’s bizarre Gay Jail facility, and even relished the gut-wrenching time I spent in drug rehab, because I had no doubt in my mind that I was eventually going to end up writing about both of these experiences. They are both as close as I have ever come to existing in a parallel universe, one with completely different rules as the rest of society. And I simply cannot resist the appeal of experiencing new and unexpected things.

I will lose some of you here, but I guarantee that many artists, actors, and entertainers will be able to relate to this: throughout my career, one of the only things that has remained consistent is my desire to constantly be doing something new and DIFFERENT.

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You can read more about Gay Jail HERE.

Read more about llamas HERE!

Or, read about Glamping: A Dangerous Gateway Drug, HERE!