Frigate Birds

“This photo was taken in 1994 in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. It was my first successful travel image. I'd decided to extend a working trip and head out from the capital city, Quito, in search of this small fishing village on the Pacific coast. The relationship between the frigate birds and the fisherman has a Hitchcock element to it. I love the sense of foreboding in the image. An art director once accused me of setting-up this picture. He thought I had strung the birds on suspended fishing lines because he couldn’t believe I caught them in perfect flight. I love photography's relationship to time and the way events unfold to reveal a particular moment. This picture is simply the product of a hunch, serendipity took care of the rest.”