Soledad

In California’s Salinas Valley lies a town called Soledad. I first started stopping there ten years ago on road trips with my boyfriend. He used to talk about wanting to rent a place to get writing done, and I would talk about photographing there. We never stayed more than a couple hours, but I often talked about how much I loved the name. The Spanish word soledad has two meanings—solitude and loneliness—and Soledad embodies both. I’ve lived my life on the cusp between these two places. Soledad is as much about confronting my own loneliness as it is about looking for it in this place.