As a work for and about Deadheads, my photographs attempt to document the sights, sounds, and scenes Deadheads all over the country have experienced as they followed the band. It is an attempt to document and define what it means to be a Deadhead. On a personal level, during the decades that I have been working on this project, trying to place myself within the work became its most challenging aspect. As a Deadhead, I always wanted to enjoy shows and hang out with my friends and extended family. But as a documentary photographer and journalist, I was constantly trying to capture that experience to show how it challenges traditional definitions of family and community within a broader social context. However, this conflict often worked to my advantage, for over the years I allowed my photographs to flow naturally, giving them a vitality and energy reminiscent of the music itself. And so I learned an important lesson: when the images were forced, the results were usually flat and uninspired, occasionally disastrous. But when I allowed the work to "proceed by its own design," the results could be stunning, even magical.