I have a unique job, in that most of the time, I am drawn to subjects and they to me, not unlike a moon to a planet. I have never been able to figure out who is what in that constellation. But it probably does not matter.

This week saw a LOT of computer time as I worked on wrapping my commercial work for the year.

As I plowed the pixel fields of my hard drive borne library, I came across a project I had shot with Zuri Star as a collaboration of sorts. Zuri is a pretty remarkable recording artist and performer. But more than that, she and her family exemplify some of the very best aspects of America to me.

Daughter of an American activist, patriot, and pioneer in organic farming in the US, Bill Allen, Zuri understands the bigger picture of writing and communicating in music and in her life. Co- incidentally, she had also become one of the cadre of amazing women whose names, design modus and momentum are in the fashion and promotional lineup for Donna Von Hoesslin’s female driven company, Betty Belts.

One day, Zuri and I set out to walk the West Side of Ventura, where I have owned a home and raised my children. The West Side has texture. Sometimes it feels like the oil fields of Texas, or clamor and bustle of Mexico. Sometimes you think it is like the inside of a big crack house. But the reality is, that the West Side of Ventura exemplifies something every country and community needs: a place to get started.

You either love it or hate it. Zuri has a new song released by that same title: Love or Hate.

I look at my own self and life process: the West Side was where I bought my first home. Fleeing from an unsustainable real estate market in Santa Barbara, and needing to follow the growth track of my low margin Surf Industry company of the time, the West Side of Ventura had been the logical choice. And no surprise, Dave Wallace, a long time Ventura resident, surfer, waterman and real estate agent, was the one who pointed me into the West Side. He knew what I needed.

It is a pretty unique place with a lot of History. The Chumash lived there at one point. (A good sign.)

So Zuri and I took a little walk down Ventura Avenue, and wound up in the Ag fields eventually. A farmer’s daughter with a revolutionary heart, in the land and backdrop of the families who founded Ventura.

So you can see how this works.

There is always more than meets the eye.

Our work and communities are matters of the heart.

Cherish that.

I shot this on film and on the Canon Rebel T1i system. The file I found had a remarkable amount of subject driven work in it. Sometimes what I have managed to create and collect surprises me. Pays to be in good company.