"Ritts was drawn to elemental places, where he could use the sea, sand and sky as backgrounds, and so his hometown of Los Angeles would become inextricably linked to his success, due both to the people living there and its outdoorsy lifestyle."

Herb Ritts is one of my favorite photographers. He loved the beach and the desert, two places I've grown to love during my time in San Luis Obispo. Ritts captured simplicity, and beauty in simplicity, playing with shapes and shadows to create drama in his fashion, nude, and portrait work. He played with fabrics, with negative space, and shadows. 

Inspired, I went to Coney Island with model and dancer Anica, and played around with chiffon, the sand, and the water. These were some of my favorite images from that day. I decided to process them black and white with a black border, because working in Mark Seliger's studio, I've subconsciously been influenced by film photography. And it's beautiful.