I was* in New York City to attend the 2012 PhotoPLUS Conference and Expo. It was a great event that provided me much needed insight on the technical aspects of photography, but also offered a score of inspiration from such world-renowned visual artists as Art Streiber and one of my favorites, David LaChapelle, deliverer of the keynote "Art or Artless":

If you don't know who David is, he's the one all the hipsters are taking a picture of.

We all have pre-conceived notions of people in the public eye. I always believed David to be somewhat of a punk auteur, relishing controversy and the subsequent public furore that results from it. But in listening to him speak, and he seems quite soft-spoken and humble, I now view him as someone with a different way of viewing things who simply wants to share his vision with the world. Make society question things, rather than blindly accept them.

Art is not speech, it is conversation.

To view David's work, click here.

*I was supposed to be home by now, but am stranded in New York because of Hurricane Sandy.