JOYCE + CONWAY // BIG SUR

I wake up to the sound of crashing waves against the rocks. It’s still dark out but a gloomy pre-dawn light shapes the furniture in my room in a soft blue, whilst the in-room gas fireplace I left on the night before gives a warm glow. I can hear the ocean and I can smell it but just short of the tree outside my window the view ends in a white nothing.

The day before Joyce and Conway picked me up in San Francisco and we drove down the coast into the fog. Big Sur at this time of the year tends to get foggy and whilst more often then not there is nothing to see but white, I don’t mind at all. It filters the light ever so gently, a white cloud of cotton wrapped around all the hard edges and making them soft. We stop at the beach to dip our toes into the sand. We scramble down rocky paths to find a better angle to see the ocean. Halfway down the coast we pass a camp of fire fighters and ash fills the air, briefly replacing the fog with a smell of smoke and grey snowflakes covering the trees. The wildfires are still burning and most of the state parks are closed so we drive further South where the mist clings to the shore. In the morning we follow the light into the redwoods and find rays of sunshine glimmer through the branches. There are waterfalls and giant clover covering the ground, we see squirrels scattering across rocks, Joyce’s hair whipping in the wind as Conway pulls her closer to the water and finally, just as we are getting closer to home the sun comes through.

Spending two days on this magical trip with these two felt like a breath of fresh air. Thank you so much for taking me on this trip and showing me your favourite place. It’s hard not to love it, fog and all.

Photographed on Fuji 400H, developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab.

© 2016 Ann-Kathrin Koch. Images look best without watermarks on them so please don’t use these photos without my permission.