I'd been in Russia for a month, working every day on the street with an entourage of interpreters. Finally I took a Sunday off and spent it in my room photographing pears. Arranging them was engaging, but uncharacteristic of my documentary photography. Still, it was careful camera work, and contemplative, and on that day it was what I needefd. In the final frame, middle ground is excluded. Then sunlight strikes the pears and the cupola of St. Basil's Cathedral as a breeze lifts the hem of the curtain into the composition and holds it there.