When assembling a photographic collection called Real Pretty Toast in 2002, I did not know it would lead to Burnt Toast in 2005, and eventually: Pain Perdu in 2014 - the third installment of what seems to have become a trilogy - the Toast Trilogy.

I'm told the making and eating of pain perdu (“lost bread”) could be a celebration for French families. Fresh bread is a daily part of life but as their francs dwindled near the end of the week, they might adapt by taking stale bread and creating a special treat with eggs, sugar and fruit or flavors they might have on hand.

This for me was a bit like the gathering of photographs in this collection. The pictures were taken over a twelve year period, and I reached back to find some nearly-neglected images. When all these ingredients are combined, the melange helps them work together in a parade of perceptions that I could never have planned in advance.

During the time I created the images in Pain Perdu, I've married my Valentine who is French. She has helped me to understand there is no reason why bread (and toast) could not always be pretty.