I like to get very intimate with things – close enough to discover their most delicate complexities and details. When I first began photographing, I was very interested in the intricacies of abandoned buildings. The textures of rust, brick, and peeling paint particularly fascinated me. They're intense. Gradually I began to photograph larger areas of spaces in decrepit factories, and wondered what it really was that I liked about these buildings. I realized that it wasn't the factories themselves that I loved, but rather that they were being overcome by nature. The earth was defeating them and taking back its land. I saw walls slowly crumble to the ground, and plants bursting out through the cracks in the floors. Alone in the quiet solitude, I caught a glimpse of the fall of civilization. It was a sign of hope -- that everything will return to the way nature intended someday. I began seeing those plants as noble conquerors, and focused on their beauty. The textures of their flowers, leaves, and fruits were even more fascinating than that of the buildings' surfaces, I just had never taken the time to look close enough. And so a whole new world of philosophy, knowledge, and aesthetics was opened up to me. I began questioning civilization and our species' relationship with our environment. I began questioning our society's creed that we are not part of nature and that its purpose is to be dominated and exploited by us. I discovered that up close I am just as similar to an elephant as it is to a fly as it is to a fern as it is to a blueberry. We are in fact natural beings, and we are beautiful. But I am not immersed in this beauty in my daily life. Instead, things that are utterly dead surround me. Everything is covered in asphalt, sprouting with buildings and cars. Instead of grass, I see concrete. And instead of trees, I see telephone poles. All dead. I want no part in it. I want to see things that live and grow and die and transform into a new life again. There is no greater sensation to me than being close to such things, so that is what I photograph.