Raring to go, he stepped on the gas the minute he received his diploma from Rhode Island School of Design in 1979. Racing off to New York City with penniless buddies, he survived on tid bit assignments and began cultivating contacts, marketing his natural enthusiasm and talent, hanging out with the creative set. And he was willing to pay his dues in the business as an assistant to a fashion and music photographer to learn the ropes. "I found out I could handle people well," he recalls.

Fast forward to breaking into celebrity work through Rolling Stone magazine. How? After 40 trips to South America in a four year period on travel assignments, he hit upon a jackpot. "I was very interested in doing music and Hollywood and moving into lots of younger magazines like Guitar and little pop magazines. I marched some of my South American work to Rolling Stone and won an assignment to do Yoko Ono," White says, recalling how he surprisingly kick started his dream.

Julia Roberts in a junkyard?
Asked how he came up with this location, he explains: "I don't have any preconceived ideas when I walk up to a set. I'm very well prepared but I leave it open. I'm very reactionary. I had the studio set up but when she walked in, I just didn't feel like it. I said there's this really cool tire repair place down the block and she was OK with that. So we dragged our equipment and clothes and makeup and all six of us walked down the block with Julia. I've worked with Julia a number of times. The tire place wasn't styled, but the stacked tires turned out to be a wonderful shot."