Greetings from 24,000 feet over the Pacific, where I am sitting with my team on a twin-engine Gulfstream government plane winging toward tiny Midway Atoll. Midway is the same distance from Honolulu, straight out over the ocean, as Los Angeles is from Dallas. Hawaii is already a thousand miles behind us, and for the last three hours of flying the sea has extended from horizon to horizon on all sides. A strange feeling of remoteness is beginning to seep in.

I am reminded of the day I flew to New Orleans ten weeks after Hurricane Katrina, loaded down with 8×10 camera equipment, having no idea what I would find, or whether my equipment would hold up, or whether I would take any good photographs. My intention that day was the same as it is  now: to go in with open mind, as free as possible from expectations, agendas, or pre-visualized images. That not as easy as it might sound, and for me it is anxiety-producing, but it also gives the best chance of acheiving what I hope for: to get out of my own way for long enough that the symbolic tragedy that is happening on Midway can speak for itself, on its own terms.

Thank you all for following our progress. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you.

~cj