Point Lobos, a familiar place -- day 1 of 10

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photo by Donald Kinney

I live about as far west as a guy can go without a boat, so my options were either north, east, or south... So, for the first leg of my trip I decided to head south down the coast to Point Lobos, a few miles south of Carmel. Robert Lewis Stevenson, after soaking up its jagged cliffs, ghost-like Cypress trees and restless sea, once proclaimed Point Lobos to be the "greatest meeting of land and sea on earth".



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photo by Donald Kinney

I grew up in Pacific Grove, not far from Point Lobos. This dates back to the 1960's, but as a lad I became interested in photography about the same time Ansel Adams moved to this area from San Francisco. But in my eyes an even greater photographer had already lived and photographed here--Edward Weston.



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photo by Donald Kinney

In Volume 2 of Edward Weston's daybooks; "California", Weston wrote about this area. For him, the stark lines and textures of old sun-bleached Cypress remnants became just as sensual as the human form.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Weston found even more artistic opportunities in the eroding sandstone on the pebbled beaches of Point Lobos. In the early 1970's, about 20 years after his death, a curious beach on the south shore was named in his honor.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Of course, I am certainly no Edward Weston, but what I CAN say is that while standing on Weston Beach I was able to feel a bit of the same enlightenment that can sometimes happen during the discovery process. Briefly, there is a disconnect from the regular crap of this world. A most wonderful place and state-of-mind.



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