two trips to the rock
Morro Bay, California (2024)
Some places don't change. We do — and they just wait there, watching us come back different.
That's Morro Bay, for me. I went twice in 2024, and it felt like a different place each time, though the rock never moved an inch.
The first trip was that September, with my older cousin Jeff Nadonza, who likes documenting moments and the interesting little details most people walk right past. Mornings came in thick with marine layer, the rock barely holding its shape through the haze, and by late afternoon the fog rolled back in again. In the clear windows between, we caught the rock from the pier at low tide, driftwood tangled in the dunes, a surfer crossing the beach with his board tucked under one arm. I shot a mix of film and digital that trip — some frames trusted to grain, others checked right on the spot.
December brought me back with my cousin Kevin Nadonza — Jeff's younger brother. The sky stayed open and clear almost the whole trip, sharp winter light instead of fog. Birds lined the wet sand and the jetty at dusk, and one night away from the water we passed a liquor store glowing red against the dark. I shot film the entire trip — no shortcuts, just trusting the light on every frame.
Same shoreline. Same rock, holding its ground through fog and gold light, through marine layer and clear winter skies. Two cousins, two seasons, two versions of me standing there with a camera in hand — and somehow the rock made room for all of it.
