After five years of exploring and capturing images of the Channel Islands, photographer Justin Fantl believes that there are basically two kinds of folks around these parts.
“Either people know them and treasure them, or they just vaguely know that they’re out there,” explained the 44-year-old to me over hot drinks in the Dart Coffee garden a couple months ago. “A lot of people who have lived here for generations have never been there, which is kind of mind-blowing to me. How could you not at least go? Aren’t you curious?”
Fantl’s new photography tome Santa Rosae should spark more intrigue for the uninitiated while simultaneously entertaining those of us who treasure the archipelago through familiar sights seen in brand new ways. Aside from a short preface by Fantl and introduction by Jordan S. Downs, the 215-page book is full of photos sans words, blending scenes of smooth natural purity with shots that reveal the sharp influence of man on the landscape. There are also aerials that he shot while flying his own plane, and a number of Easter eggs to find for islanders in the know about special locations.
“My hope is that people who don’t know anything about the islands can learn something and want to go out there,” said Fantl, though he doesn’t ever want the hordes to overwhelm this sensitive place. “People that have spent time out there fiercely guard them,” he said. “I’ve found a whole mix of ideas of what should or shouldn’t be done, or how they should or shouldn’t be managed. “
The New Hampshire native started his adult life after graduating Union College in upstate New York by becoming a Jackson Hole ski bum, during which time he met his now-wife, Katrina Sprague, who grew up in a prominent Santa Barbara family. He worked for the local paper, and scanned slides of adventures from Antarctica to Everest for an established photographer. That made him think about becoming a pro photographer rather than going to law school, which led to the Academy of Art in San Francisco and his first commercial gigs.
That work was steady for a long time, including campaigns for Old Spice, Apple, Crown Royal, and, once, even making a massive poster of a Chiquita Banana for New York City. But then too many cooks got in the kitchen. “It just wound up being like, ‘Well, we’re gonna shoot it on white, just to be safe,’” said Fantl. “That kinda bummed me out, but I had a lot of great clients and great projects along the way.”
He always wanted to do a book, and living in Los Angeles for many years brought him closer to his in-laws in Santa Barbara, which he visited frequently before moving here permanently three years ago. Once he started exploring the Channel Islands, “it clicked one day,” as Fantl realized there weren’t many fine art-aimed books on the archipelago.
He’s since made about two dozen trips since his first visit to Anacapa Island in 2019, mostly going solo, but sometimes backpacking across Santa Rosa Island with friends or doing marine cleanups with various nonprofits. Fantl was plotting his book the whole time.
“The first time I went out, that feeling of being completely removed really kind of hit me,” he recalled. “You felt a world away. It felt adventurous. I like that feeling of adventure and solace.”
In between trips and making the book, Fantl launched a new adventure as well, starting to work as a landscape designer. He was initially inspired by doing his own yard near Riviera Ridge School, where his wife works in development. “I took it on myself to redesign it and figure that whole thing out, “ said Fantl, whose company is called LSD Studio. “A lot of the work is communicating that visualization to the clients, and then estimating. I’ve been working with budgets for 15 years.”
Though Santa Rosae is dominated by images captured out at the islands, it actually begins with photographs that Fantl took of taxidermied specimens at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, which he had completed earlier as part of his graduate thesis. “The museum archive photographs speak to the importance of all the endemic species out there,” he said. “There is one picture of an island fox in the book, but that’s not what it’s all about. There’s so many ways this book could have gone,” explained Fantl, noting Chumash, ranching, military, and other histories. “It’s really hard to include it all.”
Rather than a specific focus, Santa Rosae’s throughline is its creator’s aesthetic, in which close-ups and distant landscapes carry a similar sense of enchanted, arresting soul. “It’s a study of place,” said Fantl, who looks forward to taking his own young children out there someday soon.
Where would he go? “My favorite Island is Santa Rosa, for the diversity of the terrain,” said Fantl, who is particularly fond of Skunk Point. “I’ve had some magical, otherworldly experiences out there.”
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Justin Fantl is holding a book launch party for Santa Rosae at Warlock (Victoria Court; 1221 State St. #4A), on Dec. 5, 4-8 p.m. See santarosaebook.com.
