for so many years, almost nobody knew of the existence of any pier ruins way down below the steep cliffs in the sleepy seaside town of davenport, ca...they drove by going 55mph, high up above on the pacific coast highway (pch1) oblivious to anything else except their own dashboard and the music on the stereo...and the old pier ruins lived peacefully in quiet obscurity and anonymity for many many years, surviving thousands of tides with so few footprints beside them...
and i am glad a few years ago that i got to shoot these pier ruins in davenport before people knew they were there...because now with the explosion of images on instagram, not much is obscured or secret anymore when it comes to locations of beautiful and mystical things...now these pier ruins are no exception, now the beach is riddled with footprints and the mark of humans being there...
the tides of human beings coming and going in massive numbers now has changed this place forever, and it is hard for me to see how it is for the better, but i am trying my damnedest to see the hidden positive in the message of this particular change...
and as a result of this change, i have regrets that i can no longer go there and take this beautiful picture again...you see, these old pier ruins used to be very beautiful to photograph...but 3.5 years ago, some people tagged the front ruin on the beach, coating it with panels of unsightly graffiti/art,plus they hung a metal chain swing from it as well, and severely tagged the cliffs behind the beach with all sorts of crazy ugly and random graffiti (this link shows in a video what the pier now looks like, as of 01/2019)...and then to add insult to injury, weathering did its natural thing with erosion, and the fourth old ruin out in the water succumbed to the elements, and collapsed into the sea forever a couple years ago too...
you can see how much the pier and this area has changed only 5 years later since i took my image you see before you in early october of 2014...
and on a similar subject, i was just talking with a true good friend a couple days ago about all of the scenes that i have photographed that i can sadly no longer take the same image again since something dramatic has happened to them and changed them forever (not for the better in photographic terms unfortunately)...
including the damage done to the davenport pier, here are some other locations i love that i can no longer take another beautiful picture in the same way again...
1. the tree on top of broken hill at torrey pines state preserve, la jolla, ca, has fallen down...
2. the entire poplar tree farm in boardman, oregon, is pretty much all cut down not to be replanted...
3. a careless idiot of a photographer caught the ss point reyes shipwreck in inverness, ca, on fire and totally destroyed the entire stern of the boat...
4. the old wood rungs on the deadfall ladder at lower kanarraville waterfall are all gone after a severe flash-flood ripped them away, now replaced by all metal ones...
5. the section i photographed has collapsed of the colorful mala warf in lahaina, maui, hawaii...
6. the lone tree on at the beach's edge fell over...it was on the west side of egmont key in the gulf of mexico off st. petersburg coast, florida...
7. along with many others trees at this location, the main tree in my shot with lightning over the gulf stream at botany bay, edisto beach by charleston, south carolina has been knocked over by hurricane...
8. there is a new wall built at the edge of horseshoe bend in page, az, forever changing it...
9. pier pylons at st. clair beach in dunedin, on the south island of new zealand, have been weathered and washed away to almost nothing...
10. my personal favorite in my "gift of namaste" image, the japanese maple tree has split because of severe frost damage, and over half of the tree has now died.. .
11. the old shack along the us 395 in lee vining, ca, has really fallen apart because of weathering...
as with these locations i have captured with my camera that are no longer the same, i often also regret many changes that have happened in my life as well, but those changes usually opened the door to let me see past my fears and closed-mindedness, to see what the light of change had to offer and brings within a positive construct,,,,i have learned lessons from these changes that make me a better photographer, and more importantly, make me a better person...sometimes you have to go through pain to get better, sometimes you will never understand this until looking back...but what can we do? just roll with the changes, the tides of change are continual as long as we live, as buddha said, "nothing is forever except change" so accept that, and live within the changes...because...
as i have seen, i am sure you have seen as well, that no matter what, even good things will fall apart... so enjoy the moment now, enjoy your life and the things you have, the passions that inspire you and bring joy, enjoy the people and pets who love you, all those right before your eyes...live in this moment, live and live...
"travel to that place you always wanted to see, go see it, only excuses are what's stopping you. say all those things you wanted to say to those people you never said them to, only pride is keeping you from it. learn to do that thing you always wanted to do, and do it, only fear is holding you back...do not instead make up a list of all the stuff you want to do before you die, just start doing it, and do it now. do not wait for 'one day.' experience what you can right here, right now, before it all changes...because it will change. the tides of change are as constant as time itself. as buddha once said, ' nothing is forever except change'...so take nothing for granted, nothing is guaranteed except that it will all change one day..."― bodhinku, tides of change
“life is not a static phenomenon. it is a flux, a river-like flux; it needs constant change. it needs moment-to-moment awareness; otherwise you will be left behind" ― osho, the hidden splendor
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