I am fascinated with the idea of California and with how that differs from the reality of California. As the final object of the U.S. expansion west, California occupies a special place within the American psyche: it is the land that represents opportunity and reinvention. Photographic images, both moving and still, have defined the state and have broadcast representations and abstractions of its culture throughout the world. This work is an investigation of photographic representations of California, and the inherent tendency of the lens to abstract the subject it depicts.