"I like Ralph Gibson and psychedelic rock and roll from the 60s. Oh, and I only shoot film".

This is how fifteen-year-old Mark, from Hong Kong introduced himself to me at the New York Film Academy. NYFA had asked me to mentor him one-on-one for a week. I agreed without really knowing what to expect.

As Mark was taking out a Nikon FM2 from his backpack, I asked him for the title of his favorite Gibson book. Without skipping a beat he replied: The Somnambulist.

Our whole exchange reminded me of that short story from the "Book of Sand" where a young Borges has a conversation with an aging stranger on a park bench overlooking the Charles River.

The stranger turns out to be his older self, sitting next to him across time.