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I began photographing in my late teens, when I was in college. My first camera was a Nikon SLR and about a year later I purchased a used Leica M4, which soon became my primary camera. I was intrigued both by the Leica rangefinder and the work of the photographers known for using it. The first photographic book I purchased was The World Of Henri Cartier-Bresson – a book I still own and treasure. A straightforward, documentary approach to photography became an enduring model for me.
My first serious photographic projects were focused on international travel–a road trip across Central and South America in 1974 and a backpacking trip in the Mediterranean and North Africa two years later in 1976. I was photographing almost exclusively in black and white during this time with the Leica M4. The work from my 1974 trip to Latin America became the basis for a photographic memoir, 74.M4.Latin America: a year, a camera, a road trip, which was released in Spring 2023. The photo gallery on this page features work from my travels in the Mediterranean and North Africa in 1976.
— Richard Sexton