When my son moved to California in 2010 he said he would be home in a few years. One year bled into the next and I found myself going there every few months and extending my stay each time. The camera, my creative limb that connects me to the world, was my vice for learning a new region, and a place that felt vastly different than my own in New York.

People are more outdoors, the climate is milder for much of the year. In close proximity, there are mountains, ocean, vineyards, farm land and so much more for the eye to capture, never mind the people who seemed to live with a different kind of carefree zest for day to day life. Over the years I used photography as a magnifier to bring myself closer to everything I was being exposed to and experiencing. Over time I created a relationship with the region, driving, getting lost and stopping at will to get closer to the communities and land.

A lot of these images tend to make the viewer want to move in and look closer, just as I did as an outsider, to create their own version of what they see. Part of getting closer to these images is also due to the fact that most of the images of people are obscured or hidden, and some of the objects you have to look at again, also creating your own story for what you are seeing, much like one does when reading a novel.