Rift: Unearthing the Divide Along the San Andreas Fault (2022 - 2025)

The San Andreas Fault cuts an 800-mile path through California, marking a powerful natural boundary where two tectonic plates grind past one another in opposing directions. In my project Rift, I use this geologic tension as a metaphor for the polarization and tribalism shaping contemporary society. The images I create—made directly along the fault line—visualize these divisions. The fault’s ever-present threat of earthquakes mirrors the fragility of our social fabric. Like the fault itself, these tensions often lie hidden beneath the surface, invisible to the casual observer yet deeply embedded in our lives.

Using an infrared camera to capture light beyond the visible spectrum, I reveal the unseen—offering a glimpse into alternative perspectives that exist beyond our own viewpoints. The gold tones in the images evoke California’s paradoxical identity as the Golden State: a place where the promise of prosperity coexists with deep fractures, in both the land and the culture.

With a background in geology and a lifetime spent living within five miles of the fault, I have a personal connection to this land. Rift moves beyond deciphering geologic history—it is a visual meditation on how landscapes and the built environment mirror societal rifts, and how beauty, tension, and complexity so often exist side by side.