Madona, 6 months pregnant, at her home in the Pacific Palisades in June 2021.
On this particular serene day in the midst of what Angelenos know as “June gloom” it would have been difficult to fathom the firestorm that would later tear through this beautiful neighborhood and the home she was creating with her husband. I’m looking back at this shoot, amongst others, from a cold wintry day in Asheville, NC. I reflect on the numerous beautiful moments I’ve photographed along that stretch of the Pacific Coast and it is full of the kind of milestones that shape the beauty of our lives. A baby on the way, a surprise proposal on a Malibu cliff, a couple running on the beach newly engaged, a family documenting their growing numbers in the sun-drenched meadows of the California parks that border the city… so many memories. The January fires will be another milestone; unwelcome yet branded on the land and psyche for decades to come. Much like the floods of Hurricane Helene that impacted Appalachia this fall, the enormity of natural disasters will inevitably re-structure the lives of those communities. However, we can choose how to rebuild, and how to move forward.
In this first photograph, Madona looks towards the great Pacific, across the valleys, its underlying scrub, the homes and pools of the Palisades, she harbors new life and is a reminder to me of how in the wake of disaster there is also community, resiliency and hope. Every day we wake up, w are our own living examples of the miracle of life, and we hold the power to come together to shape a more harmonious world for ourselves and future generations.
All my love from flood to fire, to the city of angels in this time. January 10, 2025.
