Curt Richter’s portraits reveal insights into his sitters beyond the visible surface. His ability to connect to his subjects is apparent in their faces, and their candor makes evident the trust he gains. He approaches portraiture with the belief that a photograph can steal a bit of a subject’s soul. The intention with all his photographs, regardless of the subject matter, is to create a storyline. The narrative thread that bonds Thousand Words is the Key West Literary Seminar. There is probably no island in the world that holds the literary heritage that Key West can claim. For the last eight years, Richter has photographed anyone involved with the seminar willing to sit for a portrait, and this series documents a slice of time in a community with a long history.