Award Winners: "San Diego Canyons #6" by Kevin Baca
AWARD WINNER
San Diego Canyons #6
Kevin Baca
Artist Statement:
The Canyons of San Diego Neighborhoods
Back in 2021, I was mainly shooting street photography around the neighborhoods of San Diego that border Balboa Park. Every so often, when out shooting, I’d reach the end of a road and catch myself amongst towering ornamental eucalyptus, looking down into a canyon of native sage scrub. After a while I noticed that I tended to gravitate toward these pockets of nature with no initial intention of photographing them. That was until I moved into an apartment in Hillcrest a couple blocks away from Marston Canyon. I decided one day to bring my camera on an afternoon walk through Marston and I was mesmerized. I felt a meditative stillness as I traversed the thin trails noticing birds fly from bush to bush. I heard distance sounds from homes lined up along the edges of the canyon. People playing instruments, talking with loved ones, and tending to their gardens. The vicinity of this natural space to humans and how they interacted drew my interest. Especially in these current times of political disorder, it has been important for me to take time to escape the noise of digital media and explore these local canyons.
Kevin Baca
