When I am at the ocean, I am always amazed at how something that is so powerful and in constant motion can, at the same time, be so beautiful, so calming and so relaxing. The waves roll into shore and wash up on the beach, one after another, bringing new sand and other treasures from the ocean on their way in, then pulling some of each back into the water on their way out. The coastline is in a constant state of change, just like life. Some of that change can take years to really be visible, like the erosion of large promontories and rock formations. Some of that change happens every time a wave arrives at shore and then eases back into the ocean.
These photographs are of those fleeting moments – small moments of beauty and wonder -- when the water has passed over the sand and left patterns or rocks or other items in its wake. Each one is different -- in the abstract patterns, in the reflection of the light, in the composition of the sand, in the shape and color of the rocks, and in the movement of the water through the channels of sand. In another moment that particular combination or arrangement of sand, rock, water and light will be gone forever, as the next wave comes in and changes it or washes it away altogether.
Those changing moments happen within a larger set of changes in the time of day, the type of weather, the brightness and angle of the sun, the presence of clouds. Sometimes the color is vivid and shiny, and I capture the brightness of the reflected light and colors of the sunrise or sunset. Other times there is almost no color at all, just a world of silent, beautiful greys. Sometimes the patterns are interesting abstract lines; other times they remind me of dragons, fireworks, trees and other images from the world around us, from books and even from dreams.
These photographs were taken at Sunset State Beach on Monterey Bay at various times over the last two years. This is an evolving portfolio of images that I will expand in the coming years.
