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When I took this photo at the Santa Barbara Mission, I was drawn to the old wooden door, the weathered stone, the cross above it, and all of the beautiful plants surrounding it. I had no idea what was on the other side—or whose story I was standing so close to.
I recently learned that this is the entrance to the cemetery where Juana Maria, known as the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, was buried.
And that stopped me in my tracks.
As a kid, I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins. I knew the book was inspired by the true story of a Native woman who had lived alone for years on an island off the coast of California. What I didn't know when I visited Santa Barbara was that I was standing at the final resting place of the woman who inspired that story.
I had traveled all the way from Wisconsin, photographed this little doorway simply because something about it caught my eye, and went home without ever realizing the connection.
Years later, I find out what I was actually looking at.
That might be one of my favorite things about photography. Sometimes you capture a story before you even know there is one.
SEEN. by Casey Lee
Sometimes the story comes after the photograph. 📸
