The Faces of California

In September I had the incredible opportunity to travel across the entire state of California.  While words don't normally fail me, I do not have the vocabulary to do justice to the beauty of the state.  It struck me that it in many ways the state reminded me of the beauty of Canada - with a more bearable climate, a desert, and a little more glitz.

I am going to post a few of these magical moments over the next little while. but if anything reminded me of home it was the people.  It struck me the moment I stepped on Venice Beach the first day.  Not long after, I decided to do my own mini project along the way.  Below are the Faces of California.

At the skate park on Venice Beach there were at least 60 guys and girls ranging in ages from 4 to over 50 who were motoring around.  This young man on rollerblades, saw the big camera and came skating over and said "Hey, Grab a pic of me doing a 360."  And off he went.  He nailed the jump, I caught the shot, he came to look at, smiled wide in approval and with that the Faces of California was born.

This one is kind of a bit of a cheat.  He was actually the bartender in a little shady joint just inside the Nevada Border across from a Casino on the state line.  It was late and everything in the desert shuts down at dark except 8 miles down the road across the border.  It took a little convincing to get me inside but as I sat at the bar and listened to this man's story from a travelling musician to bartender in a whole in the wall joint, t ended up being a great night!

At the end of the trip through Yosemite National Park I stopped to catch the view looking back one last time.  It was a popular spot and I wasn't seeing anything that everyone and their dog wasn't snapping away until I saw this man.  The big camera again focused the attention on what I was doing and after a few minutes of chatting I asked this fellow photographer if he would pose for a moment.  He was hesitant but soon warmed up to the idea and it is one of my favourites from the series.

All Along the route to Wine country, I saw these stalls.  So in the middle of nowheresville California the navigator came to a full halt.  This man, from Laos, owns his hut and is carving out his version of the American dream.  He had me in fits of hysteria as his broken English point to various pieces of fruit and how they made for great TV food.  A memorable random stop that simply makes me smile every time I see this photo. 

Though it was far from my favourite wine, there was such an endearing quality to this elderly gentleman as he methodically (a nice mature way of saying slowly) poured out the samples for each glass of wine.  

Finally, the coastal road had resulted in many run-ins with surfers along the way but for some reason it wasn't until the last day that I thought to add one to my collection.  Because I wanted him to represent all of the surfers I had seen along the way, I chose to silhouette him against the fading California sun.

It was an unbelievable trip and I look back with fond memories often.  The sights were incredible but it was the people who really bring back most of the smiles.

I've been away from blogging for almost a month and even still I've had a number of people still checking in so to you I say sorry.  I'm in the middle of preparing for the comprehensive oral exams for my PhD and that with the business as well as the influx of marking has not left me with much time.  That, however, is an excuse and I prefer not to make those.  So I'll be better... Until the next time...