The Sonoma Fire Aftermath

In October last year, fires raged through bucolic Sonoma County for 22 days.

Along with thousands of others, I was evacuated from my home during a

firestorm that ultimately killed 43 people, destroyed 4,658 homes, scorched

36,807 acres, and will cost more than $1 billion. 

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Over the past five months, I have been taking photographs, meeting people

as they sorted through the rubble that once was their home. The vacant eyes, the

leveled neighborhoods, the stench of smoke — this truth is my impetus to

document the shattered lives, wasted resources, and ultimately global climate

change. 

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The lucky were awaken in the small hours of the morning by sharp knocks on

the door. Most left in their pajamas with only a car key. On one of my photo

visits, I met Carol standing near a pile of ashes that had been the house where

she was raised. Her family, four generations, had been planning to spend the

holidays there, raise a Christmas tree, and celebrate. She asked whether I

would photograph them together. These are the sorts of stories my

photographs tell.

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Without reason or fairness, homes were ravaged, often with one house along

an entire block spared. Throughout the burned-out neighborhoods, I

discovered small archeological finds: a thimble, a broken figurine, a wedding

ring —the remains of a person’s life. I am interested in the way survivors

make sense of the calamity, how they put their lives back together.

Spring has come too early this year. Something is changing on a profound

level, and I am frightened. Animals have lost their habitats. Bird migration is

out of tune. So many have been displaced.  It will take courage to rise.