On a recent assignment for Wired.com, I photographed Arnold Kim, notorious tech gossip writer and editor of MacRumors. His site commands 7 million unique visitors a month and, as Wired writer Brian X. Chen so eloquently stated in the related story, “owns an empire built out of whispers.” The industry sleuth has built up his trusted network by taking rumors seriously. Along with tracking trademark filings and domain registrations, he carefully scrutinizes every source to maintain his sites credibility.

We met him while he was in town for the 2010 MacWorld expo in San Francisco. For the image, I was looking for a candid moment that also reflected the idea that Kim operates in the shadows of perceived truth. As I followed him around the morning of the interview, I wanted to imply solitude by using available space to frame him while making sure I captured his intense focus. I’m happy with the result.