Your Moment of Visual Zen

2020 has been a crazy year, full of uncertainty and chaos.  We’ve all found moments where we can.  I’ve relied on photography and travel to calm my senses.  Both were difficult during the lockdown, but even during those moments I shot and traveled. Of course the travel was limited to about a couple square miles around my house and studio in San Diego.  So when I was able to travel more broadly we hit the road to one of our favorite spots, the Northern California coast.  It’s become our new go to spot. A once a year trek to continue our exploration.  This year we hit the Lost Coast Trail up around Shelter Cove.  It’s pretty remote, but accessible by car.  

Photographically I wasn’t feeling the landscape photography I usually shoot on these road trips.  Exploring the beaches I was seeing things smaller and more intimate - more abstract and symbolic.  I was intrigued by the water, the shapes, the erosion and textures, and the plants and creatures seemingly living everywhere.  There was beauty and tranquility everywhere I looked.  

Given what we’ve gone through in 2020 and what surely will be a chaotic several weeks, if not months, I present to you several moments of visual zen.  I hope they bring you the joy and peace I felt while discovering and creating them.  

Back to the Streets - Little Italy / Downtown

Needed an afternoon pick me up yesterday so took a walk to get a dirty chai. I picked a spot my wife recommended about a mile from the studio so I could log some time on the streets. Bold, graphic elements are what presented. Take some time this Labor Day weekend to explore what’s around you. Immerse yourself, be present. But most of all enjoy the 3 day holiday!

Leasing never looked so brilliant

Mexican Fiesta

Ash Street

Cerrado

Back to the Streets - Downtown San Diego

Like many large American cities over the last couple of decades San Diego’s downtown has seen a resurgence and revitalization. Most areas of downtown are now safe and “happening”. This was not always the case. Prior to the Padres building and relocating to PetCo Park the area was blighted and dangerous. That, along with many other revitalization projects has transformed downtown SD into a destination for tourists and locals alike. People actually live downtown now. There are numerous hi rise condos - a new concept for San Diego where sprawl has always been the name of the game . Downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter is considered the Heart of San Diego. It’s teaming with restaurants, bars, clubs - hard not to be entertained. It’s a happening destination. The Gaslamp is often compared to New Orleans’ French Quarter. I’ve lived in both cities. The Gaslamp is no French Quarter. It doesn’t embrace it’s history the way they do in Louisiana. For that matter, it doesn’t have the history that the French Quarter does. But what little historical significance it has is whitewashed, as you often find in historic areas of California. There’s still enough happening downtown and in the Gaslamp to make it interesting and weird. Great place to explore with a camera, especially as the sun is going down.