Isaiah Squire
Inspired by the spirit of adventure and the bittersweet pull of change, Isaiah Squire’s Going to California is a coming-of-age photo series documenting a college road trip up the California coast. Named after the Led Zeppelin song, the series weaves together images that feel like memories—some sharp and vivid, others hazy and fleeting—mirroring the journey of youth itself.
Shot on an old film camera, an Olympus Mju II, until a clumsy drop left the camera broken, the trip, like the photos, took an unexpected turn and led to disruptive yet beautiful lens flares scattered amongst the project. Much like coming of age, being forced to adapt to change, Isaiah continued capturing moments with a Canon PowerShot and the banged-up Olympus. Hoping the camera would still work despite the sketchy tape job, embracing the shift as part of the story. The result is a visual mixtape of a journey both physical and personal—one of self-discovery, long highways, and late-night conversations that stretched until dawn.
Each image is tied to lyrics from Going to California, grounding the series in the nostalgia and longing that define both the song and the experience. From “Made up my mind to make a new start / Going to California with an achin’ in my heart,” capturing the first miles on the road, to “Someone told me there’s a girl out there / With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair,” an ode to a young woman adorning a yellow flower overlooking big sur. The final stretch is marked by “Throw me a line if I reach it in time / I’ll meet you up there where the path runs straight and high,” a reflection of both the journey’s end and the beginning of something new.
Through film grain, digital texture, and the unpredictability of travel, Going to California is a love letter to youth, change, and the beauty of the unknown that is the future.
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