When asked to describe Clark, Maierhofer says, “His identity is fluid. He is constantly readjusting himself and he is smart. I don’t know much more about him than that even though I have been studying him for almost two years”. She thinks that the last image in her book – which depicts a man in a black suit standing behind a steamy pane of glass, outline blurred, untouchable and out of reach – is the perfect summation. “I love people” she says. “Looking at them, wondering where they are going and how their lives must look behind closed doors. With a camera I’ve found that they allow me to accompany them, listen to their stories and sit at their kitchen table. I never got there with Clark.”

During her research, Maierhofer made a discovery that has remained with her. “All of the cells in the human body are completely replaced several times over within a single lifetime, with the exception of cells connected to the nervous system and those of the heart muscle.” Metaphoric, yes, but a fact that resonates with her message. We are all constantly changing, whether we know it or not. She has sent Clark a copy of her book and maintains that she would like them to meet but acknowledges that the chance of that happening is slim, as the “old him” has long since vanished. “I’m not sure he would want to talk about his past lives. The past never seemed to be something of importance to him.”

Clark Rockefeller enticed people into his lies wherever he went and Maierhofer admits that she, too, became enamoured with his story, seduced into his world from afar. “I fell in love with the idea of him – the very essence of a con man and the endless promise of anything you want or desire” she concludes. “Ultimately, promise is the most profound thing that the con man shares with the photograph: the promise of truth.”