About Kevin Hipp

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Kevin Hipp took this picture on the hills above Santa Barbara, overlooking the Santa Ynez Valley. He loves photographing architectural ruins and had heard about this spot from a friend.

The legend of Knapp's Castle says that early-1900's actor George Knapp wanted to build himself a castle in the hills, but after two forest fires destroyed his plans, he decided the place was cursed and left it to deteriorate.

When Hipp, who has been a photographer for seven of his 21 years, got there, "the lighting was just right," he said. He chose black-and-white film because of the different shades of gray in the clouds and the texture of the ruins.

Hipp, who grew up in Palo Alto and now attends the Brooks Institute of Photography, has photographed ruins as far away as China. He likes taking pictures of falling-apart places because they illustrate how people used to live and how times have changed.

"I'm not a good painter and I'm not a good writer," Hipp said, "but I like being able to capture something I see beauty in and hopefully help others see the same thing."

--Avital Binschtock