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(09/09/2015) ✕

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In 2001, when I began to build my private psychiatric practice in New York City, I became aware of the paradox that I spent most of my time interacting with many people, yet feeling that I worked in isolation. At around the same time, following a long harbored desire for creative expression, I turned to my other passion, photography, to allow for a spontaneous, artistic counterweight to my highly structured clinical work. I enrolled in classes at the International Center of Photography, hired a photography supervisor to improve my technical skills and began looking for a long term project. I came across photography books on artists and writers in their studios, but I could not find any photographic documentation of therapists in their consulting rooms. This discovery galvanized me as the idea seemed fresh.

I started out by asking my friends and colleagues if I could photograph them in their offices and they readily agreed. The photo sessions were quite mutually enjoyable, and soon I was running around in search of more subjects. Early on, my goal was to create an art book that would not only appeal to professionals but also to the psychologically minded, layperson. I also decided to explore the evolving diversity of our field and resolved to capture a wide range of practitioners of different schools and persuasions - from well known luminaries to motivated trainees. As the circle of therapists whom I photographed widened, I became more curious about the larger community. We are all united by our desire to heal the mind and spirit but what are our differences? And what, if anything, do we have in common beyond the treatment of our patients?...