It's November 8th, 2009, and this is The Candid Frame. Photographing a place can seem to be a very easy thing.

Take out a camera, place it on a tripod, and you can make an image of an old house, an open field, or a street corner.

But if you want to do more than document a place's appearance, and instead you want to create

a sense of place not only as it's seen today, but how it might have been perceived over

100 years ago, now that's a challenge.

And that was one of the challenges faced by a photographer

Stephen Mark, who used this camera to explore the world of the Underground Railroad. Using a variety

of photographic techniques and approaches, he impresses on the viewers and awareness of the human

lives that existed and were changed in these places.

With his images, I believe he not only succeeds in giving a voice to these places,

but also to the many anonymous men, women, and children, both black and white,

who were transformed and helped to transform this country.

So sit back and enjoy our conversation with Stephen Mark.

Well, Stephen, welcome to The Candid Frame.

I'm really excited to have you on the show and to talk about your work.

Well, thank you very much.

I really appreciate this opportunity.

I was looking forward to this.

You know, one of the things I was looking at your book, which is really amazing,

but one of the things I was kind of curious about is about your beginnings as a photographer,

and I know you were going to Pomona College.

And you write about the fact that you were studying psychology at the time.

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