Lone Cypress - California USA

Photo: 17 Nov 2008

Lone Cypress is one of the iconic landmarks on the Californian coastline and is within the area known as 17-Mile Drive.

To those who are unfamiliar with the concept of a "gated community" it's an area where (mostly) rich people live and exclude entry to people who can't afford to live there. Usually because they want to feel safe from all the poorer people.

Anecdotally these sorts of communities are common in countries where violent gun-related crime, fear of crime is a problem, or where there is a big imbalance between the wealth of the rich and the poor. There is however no credible evidence to suggest that they actually make things safer for anyone.

The difference with 17-mile-drive is that the corporation that owns this gated community allows visitors to enter in return for paying a toll of about $10.

Coming from a country where public access to the coast is almost universally protected by common law rights, I still find the idea that a company made up by rich people can buy up a chunk of the most beautiful coastline and restrict access to it pretty abhorrent. This is especially repulsive when it's coastline as beautiful and culturally significant as 17-mile drive.

Photo: Lone Cypress, this scene was famously captured by Ansel Adams, and thousands of other photographers since. In this instance the shot was taken in the very late afternoon just before sunset. Olympus E420 + 12-60mm @ f6.3