Several years ago, Gregory Schaffer moved to China and joined the Peace Corps. “China is a funny, sad place where people are desperate for something more in their lives,” he says. “This made me desperate too.”

Schaffer spent a lot of his time in China hiding in his apartment, making fruit smoothies and watching illegal DVDs. But, occasionally, he went on long walks to take pictures. “Photographs are my retreat,” he says. “I just hold on to the camera with my eye to see what tugs back.”

Schaffer earned his MFA in photography from the University of Washington. He is currently a teacher with the Refugee Women’s Alliance in Seattle’s Rainier Valley.