A significant part of my photography involves developing a relationship with a place before making an image about it. For me, this includes visiting the place over and over again, observing how the light reacts with the landscape throughout different times of the day or year, looking beyond the literal in order to study the abstractions and details, but oftentimes just enjoying its beauty without feeling the pressure to take a photo. This requirement for some kind of relationship with a place can also be what hinders me from creating an image I like when visiting it for the first time. It takes time for me to understand and learn about the stories a location has to offer before creating something meaningful from it. The photos in this gallery come from one of those places that I feel I have developed a strong connection with and have visited countless times over the years. No matter how many times I return, it continues to offer me hidden treasures.

This exploration started as a way for me to look beyond the grand landscape that allures newcomers to my local beach with a camera icon on Google Maps. While this iconic viewpoint has been a prolific source to many photographers’ portfolios including mine, the real gift for me has come from studying the textures of the geology and the waters that have shaped it over centuries. While I hesitated to release a collection of images from my beloved Southern California coastline for well over a year, waiting for the gallery to feel “finished”, I came to realize that visiting my local coastline and creating new images is an ongoing process that may never have an end. This exploration is a continuous venture into the local wilderness that first inspired me to pick up a camera. New images will be added as long as I continue to find inspiration and stories here. I hope that these images will reveal something of my fascination with the landscape, and though it may not be able to be put into words, the mercurial moods and power of this coast.