Barbers, Butchers and Bar Rooms

I started out as a photojournalist, and every once in a while, I return. It's a challenging genre -- one that forces the photographer to think fast, rely on his artistic instincts and tap all of his experience to make the most of technically difficult situations.

After shooting in exotic places like China and Mongolia, it was about time I covered Minneapolis/St. Paul. METRO magazine gave me that opportunity last month, asking me to shoot their annual "Hole in the Wall" series. The cover and inside spreads give just a taste of the imagery I created documenting some of Minnesota's quirkiest places. Here are a few pages from the magazine, now on newsstands: