“Should’ve been here yesterday.” It’s something we say a lot in surfing. This time, I scored. On my way to photograph dams, I drove through endless fields of plum trees in full bloom. If I had tried to plan it, I would’ve missed it, as it lasts only a week or two. Absolutely mesmerizing!

After sharing the video with a friend well versed in agricultural practices, my excitement was diminished when he replied, “This, my friend, is the result of intensive agriculture.” As often in my practice, I respond to beauty through photography first, and only later begin to question what I am looking at.

There is an undeniable beauty in those orchards, however one that is manufactured. Upon further examination, questions of resources, human intervention, and consumer demand become inevitable. This landscape exists only through control, through water that is captured, stored, and redistributed according to human timelines.

This random encounter feels fortuitous because it reveals the other side of the dams I am photographing. The blossoms are sustained by structures that are permanent and imposing and systems designed to eliminate uncertainty and maximize yield.