For me, photography is a way of sharing what I see with other people. I am a visual person, and I've found most other forms of conveying my vision to other people difficult and frustrating. I've dabbled in drawing, printmaking, and design. But I can't seem to communicate the visual exuberance I feel with those media. With photography, I can come much closer.
I try to see things clearly and correctly. I strive for realism, which is difficult with people, who are so naturally deceivers, photogenic in inexplicable ways, or obviously beautiful yet hard to photograph with justice. But people are the best subjects, because they have a point. Sorting through photos after a flurry of shooting (by holding a large black box between my eyes and the subject's), finding a gem, and knowing that it will serve as some small description of that subject— that's what I love about photography.
Of course, all my photography is tinged by how I see things. If you don't like my photographs, you don't like what I see, and there's nothing I can do about it. It simply won't work out. But that's okay, you simply have to find a photographer whose eyes you enjoy looking through.
The highest compliment I can receive is to have someone look at a portrait of someone they know, and exclaim something like, “Oh, that's so Peter!” I want to capture those little glances of personality, slivers carved out of time, a pinprick of light that reflects some aspect of the fathomless identity that each person bares and hides at the same time.
But enough about me...