The last thing you want is for someone to get their radar up thinking you're going to take something from them when you take their photograph. In 1978 Kirschbaum joined the photo staff of The Sun. Part of the job has been shooting local icons, ranging from film director John Waters to Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. His most dangerous assignment, however, came last year when he least expected it. Newspaper photography has its frustrations, of course.
Editors misuse nice shots.
And photographers known for getting something from nothing can find themselves with an excess of nothing assignments. Or, worse, a picture doesn't get used at all. That happened to Kirschbaum in 1993 to some of the most evocative and exhaustive work of his career. Suffering from a devastating skin condition known as scleroderma, she was slowly shriveling up and withering away, barely able to move without help. With her bones at her joints practically poking through the skin, and with her eyelids gone, she is hard to look at.