My wife, Samantha, hatched a plan in 2018 to move to Toulouse, France for a year. She wanted to spend time in France to experience new things, meet new people, and expand our understanding of the world around us. We lived there with four of our five children from August 2019 to June 2020, about 9 months.

While in Toulouse, I was enchanted with the city. I was drawn to its ancient buildings and narrow, cobblestone streets that were a wild tangle of randomness. I wanted to photograph it. I also fell in love with the appearance and manner of the people living in Toulouse. They were so different from Americans. They dressed differently, walked differently, and behaved unlike anyone I had ever encountered.

I photographed the city early in the morning to avoid contention from the French about my menacing tripod. After a few sessions, I noticed that the photos seemed empty and post-apocalyptic. I liked the compositions and textures, but without the local residents, the photos didn’t look right to me.

I determined to find a way to photograph them. I didn’t, and still don’t, speak French. But a friend at church, Bruno Kahne, had a 22-year-old son living at home with him who he said “would be a great fit for this project.” I reached out to Tom Kahne and offered to pay him 20 euros an hour to walk with me and ask strangers to pose for a quick photo.

Tom was an intelligent, sensitive guy who knew his people (he had grown up in Toulouse). He could easily strike up a conversation and explain the plan to photograph them. I was pleased when almost every single person we stopped took a few minutes out of their busy day for a photo. I only did about 20 sessions that fall and another 40 in the spring, but I could have spent a few years doing the same.

My plan was to photograph the people, get their email address, send the photos, and ask if they would be interested in doing more photography at their place. French domiciles and interiors interested me a great deal.

We photographed about 60 people and visited 10 of them in their homes. On the balance, I found them to be friendly and courteous. We never encountered a rude person. In fact, we were only turned down for a photo 3 times. I sensed that they were flattered that we had selected them and that they were included in this exclusive club of French representatives. It was joyful work.

Visit my gallery of images here