De la Luz

De la Luz documents my ongoing exploration of the agricultural area south of Santa Cruz, just off Highway 1. The area I photograph is not the fabled Highway 1, but rather a part of it that is unlikely to register in anyone’s memory or imagination. For those driving along it, the repetitive string of nondescript fields occasionally dotted by anonymous figures, would not draw a second glance. One day, however, I decided to stop. Here the land yields harvests at an accelerated pace, driven by the seamless rotation of crops and the region’s temperate climate. Vast landscapes are laid out in geometric patterns; nature, taken and manipulated, strangely beautiful. De la Luz became grounded when I photographed the people who make this bounty possible. In several portraits, the sitter uses a cloth to cover the face or looks away, for purposes of anonymity. The title De la Luz, meaning “of the light,” refers to the special light I experienced when photographing out in the fields. I continue my efforts to shine the light on this often-overlooked terrain. -- De la Luz was photographed in black and white film, primarily with my 4x5 view camera.