We are all actors of our own lives. We are all vulnerable. We are all heroic. We are human beings. Therein lies the wonder. The passions, strengths, weaknesses, joy, innocence, sadness, violence, tragedy and the multitude of contradictions that constitute a person are what I believe make men and women so ‘beautiful’. That is why I try to get in close and photograph their eyes — eyes that observe me watching them. It is as though they are briefly opening their souls and I am allowed in to capture a fraction. Through this action, capturing the moment, I may be also making sense, albeit briefly, of their persona — as well as mine.

John R. Pepper, Palermo, 2011