While I was living
in India,
the biggest door of my
career opened.
 I pitched a story to
 National Geographic,
and it was to go and tell the
story about the last,
hand-pulled rickshaw pullers.
Who were living in Calcutta.
Word was that they were going
to ban the whole
mode of transportation there.
So, they accepted my proposal.
Off I went.
Get to Calcutta.
Great! I've got my first
big assignment.
Guess what?
All the rickshaw pullers said,
"No thank you. We don't want
our pictures taken."
And that's the truth, you know,
I think a lot of people think,
 Oh, if you work for
 National Geographic,
the doors just come
flying open.
Nope, not always the case.
So I'm thinking,
"What do I do?"
I've got to get access,
and that is the secret
of great photography,
is just getting access.
So, I found the leader of the
 rickshaw union.
His name was, Subir. I told him
why I wanted to tell this story.
And he started introducing
me to people.
And I also would take portraits
 of these men,
and go to a one-hour photo
 place, get them printed,
 and run around Calcutta,
 giving them pictures.
And you know, to these men,
they've never had--
some of them didn't
even have shoes,
and so to have a portrait was
really something
for them to hang up in these
 small quarters,
was really meaningful to them.
And it took time and patience,
and slowly,
they started opening up,
and sharing their lives with me.
