SITTING in the waiting room of my doctor’s office reading People Magazine, I noticed that most of the ads were directed at older people. The images of trim elderly couples walking on the beach, old guys playing pain-free golf or a smiling gray-haired woman lifting up her grandchild, were in stark contrast to the continuous stream of articles and photos about beautiful young celebrities. When I shared this observation with my doctor she replied,”That doesn’t surprise me at all. When I recently suggested to my teenage daughter that she check out a book that I'd read she just grimaced and replied, 'I don’t think so, we don’t do paper.'"

THIS CASUAL REMARK startled me. Is it true that younger generations grow up not "doing paper”? I can’t imagine living without the pleasure of a book. Not just the content, but the feel, comfort, intimacy, typography and even their smell have sustained me throughout my life. Solely reading “content” on a screen is somewhat like the astronauts surviving on meals squeezed from a tube. Yes, it’s nutritionally no different than an actual “brick and mortar” meal, but it is not really food.

IT WAS AFTER this encounter that I began photographing books. I wanted to capture the texture of paper and the extraordinary grace of type viewed extremely close. I sought to dramatize the curve of open pages using light and shadow to reveal a book's exquisite beauty and timelessness.

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