In the mid-1990s, I was handed an assignment that felt almost too good to be true. Victor Zaud, who was helping create the first website for Post Ranch Inn, needed photographs that captured what it felt like to be there.
The assignment took me to Big Sur for three days and nights, with all expenses paid. My job was simple enough to describe: come back with photographs that told the story of the place.
I exposed a lot of film during those three days. Perched above the Pacific Ocean, Post Ranch Inn offered no shortage of things to photograph. There were the obvious subjects—the architecture, the views, the food—but I found myself drawn to quieter details.
These two images have always remained among my favorites.
What I like about these photographs is that they don’t show the obvious. There are no sweeping coastal views, architectural hero shots, or elaborate meals. And yet, to me, they feel unmistakably like Post Ranch Inn.
They evoke the atmosphere I remember: serene, grounded, and entirely its own.
If you’ve been there, perhaps these images will bring back a memory. If you haven’t, perhaps they’ll give you a small sense of why the place stayed with me.
