California voters on Tuesday are set to choose the candidates who will compete in November for the governor’s office and 52 seats in Congress, in primary elections that are seen as a barometer of how a stronghold of progressive policies is responding to President Donald Trump’s second term. Attention is focused on the gubernatorial race to fill the vacancy left by Democrat Gavin Newsom, one of Trump’s most vocal critics and who continues to send signals of a possible presidential bid.

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When Craig Hubbard moved from Brooklyn to Venice Beach in 2013, he had an established creative career as an animator and comic book colorist, but it had been a long time since he had picked up a camera. The golden hour hues of the West Coast’s legendary sunsets reacquainted him with lens-based work, and he began documenting the areas he frequented in his spare time. “As an avid surfer and former skater, I gravitate toward skateparks and water,” he tells Colossal. And with the ocean, of course, come the waves.

Venice Beach is a funky, coastal Los Angeles neighborhood that has retained its laid-back, surf-loving vibe despite new developments. Surfers await swells in areas like the Breakwater and the Venice Beach Pier, and Hubbard heads out with his own board and his camera. “Dusk, dawn, and fog banks activate my senses,” he says. Tapping into his enthusiasm for graphic design, he focuses on bold outlines and forms, high contrast, and the energy of directionality and motion. “Nature ultimately does the heavy lifting, though,” he adds.

Hubbard’s photos are ethereal and cinematic, with surfers and wave crests illuminated by the early morning sun or backdropped by the marine layer. Sometimes the intense spray, curl, shoulder, or lip become the sole subjects of the portraits. “The water is the muse and artist,” Hubbard recently told an interviewer. “I’m just a biased translator and documentarian. Lastly, my ego relaxes in the ocean; the need to peacock recedes. This is where my best work comes from—or favorite, I should say.”

Follow Hubbard’s work on Instagram and see some of his videos on YouTube.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Pacific Surf Takes Center Stage in Craig Hubbard’s Dreamy Photos appeared first on Colossal.

Larry Myhre posted a photo:

Red Bluff, California; although it has been reconditioned, the sign may be quite old - the pharmacy has been in the same building since 1906.

Hilton has worn many hats since he arrived in the US 14 years ago, and now faces steep odds of defeating Democratic Xavier Becerra in November

After years of working in the background of Conservative party politics in Britain, Steve Hilton has passed the first major test as his own front man: clinching a spot in the November run-off to become California’s next governor.

The outcome was far from a given under California’s open primary system, which rewards the top two vote winners regardless of party, and the particular challenge of running as a Republican in one of the most solidly blue states in the country.

The literary career of author Reyna Grande has been defined by her trauma. At 50 years old and two decades after her first publication, every new book, whether fiction or non-fiction, has been permeated by her experiences as a Mexican immigrant who, at nine years old, left behind poverty in Iguala, Guerrero, for a difficult adolescence of assimilation in California. There, she reintegrated into a broken family marked by her father’s alcoholism and abuse. From “poking at the wound” so much, Grande began to fear that she had developed a fixation and, at the same time, commodified her trauma.

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Fire at medical supplier Medline in Tracy, city of more than 100,000 residents, is affecting the air quality

California firefighters continued to battle a blaze on Saturday that had engulfed a roughly 1m sq ft warehouse, causing officials to warn residents over unhealthy air quality.

The fire has been raging at the medical supplier Medline Industries’ warehouse in Tracy, a city of more than 100,000 residents located about 55 miles (90km) east of San Francisco. Officials expect to be battling the fire for a few more days.

Carlos Eduardo Espina’s rise began during the Covid pandemic, when he started posting videos in Spanish on TikTok that explained immigration and political issues in a casual style aimed at Hispanics in the United States. He eventually amassed millions of followers across different digital platforms, and soon attracted the attention of politicians eager to reach his audience.

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saltycotton posted a photo:

Californians Vacations ad
“The Saturday Evening Post” magazine
February 14, 1959