Magan Kunin
I walked into The Valley Project in the Santa Ynez Valley on my first day in California. I’d never been to California or indeed to the US before. At this first stop I met Magan Kunin, pictured here, who on hearing that I was from Melbourne mentioned that she’d studied at Melbourne University for a time, and that she’d lived in Swanston Street, Melbourne, while she lived here. Swanston Street is one of Melbourne’s main city-centre streets and, needless to say, I didn’t expect to hear it mentioned in the US. Kunin said that her time in Melbourne had helped inspire her love of wine, and of wine sharing, and of wine culture.
This was another blink-and-you’d-miss-it shoot but the light was excellent, Kunin is photogenic, and the background was/is interesting or uncluttered-enough to be good for photography. And yet I don’t love this image or any of the images that I took; I needed more time. It’s one of those images that should be good but for some reason isn’t. I’m unlikely to ever be back. It works well-enough for editorial purposes.
Magan Kunin, I found on this trip, makes beautiful wine. I particularly like her Jurassic Park Sparkling Chenin Blanc.
