I was sitting in a dive bar in the East Village next to a punk Asian kid, and a pervy old man sits down next to him and says "Can I buy you a drink?" The punk kid glares at him for a few seconds and says "Yeah sure, but keep your hands off...", then looks over at the bartender and says "I'll have two Rolling Rocks, on him..."

Preston moved to New York City basically a homeless kid, wandered around amusing himself by scrounging clothes from dumpsters behind designer fashion showrooms in Soho. One day, a marketing rep for Jil Sander saw him on the street and asked if he'd consider being in their fall advertising campaign.

Several months later, I was shooting a promo piece for Filmmaker Magazine for publisher Steve Gallagher, and decided it would be fun to cast Preston as a punk indie boy wearing a Filmmaker t-shirt. I knew Steve would enjoy if we took the shoot a little too far (he had asked for something dark and edgy), even if we came up with some crazy images that he could never actually publish in the magazine.

Of all the people I've photographed in New York City, Preston has to be the most entertaining and unique talent I've ever worked with. Despite pounding back numerous forties of malt liquor during a shoot, he always managed to perform well for the camera and never failed to surprise.