Being there: in the moment with photographer Stephen Wilkes.

The best piece of advice I ever received came early in my career," says Connecticut-based fine art and commercial photographer Stephen Wilkes. While a student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Wilkes took a summer course at Parsons with photographer Bob Edleman, who told him: "You better understand what this world's all about if you want to be a good photographer."

Heeding this counsel, Wilkes became a world traveler, explorer, and observer, channeling his photojournalist experiences into capturing feelings and emotions on fil