Deborah Sandidge

By definition a prism is a geometrical glass figure with...wait, stop; forget that. Just take a look at the cover of your Dark Side of the Moon album. That's a prism, and that's basically what it does.

There’ll always be an opportunity to make a photograph. What makes that photo more than simply a record of a place, what will turn it into a creative image, is how you deal with the opportunity—and sometimes how far you stretch it.

Some photographers call it a personal project; others, a self-assignment. I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about whether there’s a difference, and if there is, what it might be. Besides, I have my own mash-up of it: the personal assignment.

Waves occupy a high position on my favorite photographic subjects list. First, I feel a natural emotional connection to them. Second, they offer a lot of ways I can portray that connection. Give me a subject that provides lots of possibilities and creative challenges, and I'm there.