Big Sur is a spectacular stretch of the California coast north of Los Angeles, famous for the drive along the ocean where rugged mountains meet the sea. When a thirteen-acre landslide dropped from the water-logged mountains to the south, the area became inaccessible by road, and it would be more than a year before Highway 1, the lifeline of the community, could reopen.

While the road was blocked Kirk Crippens went there with the former resident Torre McQueen. His landscapes show the peace and quiet, the destruction and the beauty; his portraits of residents reflect the resilience, self-sufficiency and conviction that life, work and art will continue through it all.

“Big Sur has a climate all its own and a character all its own. It is a region where extremes meet, a region where one is always conscious of weather, of space, of grandeur, and of eloquent silence.” — Henry Miller