"I lost everything in Katrina. I left New Orleans for Texas and now I'm here."

It's not easy to photograph people. Part of the problem is simply inexperience in asking permission to make a photograph, and on a more basic level, there's the fear of rejection by the potential subject.

I've asked enough times over the years that I don't mind rejection. And I have a few tricks to create a quick kinshiop with people that I employed on our trip to make portraits like this one possible.