IN 2002, PHOTOGRAPHER BRET LOPEZ PURCHASED HIS GRANDFATHER J.J. COHN'S LEGENDARY RUTHERFORD ESTATE. IN A COMMITMENT TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE PROPERTY THAT HAD ALWAYS BEEN THE TRUE NORTH OF HIS LIFE, HE SHIFTED FOCUS FROM A STELLAR FORTY YEAR CAREER AS AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ADVERTIZING PHOTOGRAPHER (CAMPAIGNS SPANNING FASHION, BEAUTY, FOOD, CARS, ALBUM COVERS, CELEBRITIES) TO THAT OF GUARDIAN AND VINTNER. THE RESULT OF THAT COMMITMENT IS SCARECROW CABERNET SAUVIGNON AND MOST RECENTLY M. ÉTAIN. FOR BRET, THE SACRED EARTH OF HIS HOME IN RUTHERFORD IS LITERALLY AT THE HEART AND SOUL OF THESE IMAGES. THE NUDES SERIES GREW OUT OF MY CURIOSITY AND EXPLORATION OF THE LINE BETWEEN REPRESENTATIONAL AND ABSTRACT IMAGERY, AND THE MYSTERY THEREIN. WHEN WATCHING MOVIES, THE DISTORTION CREATED BY OUT-OF-FOCUS WOMEN IN BACKGROUNDS WALKING THROUGH SCENES, ALWAYS STRUCK ME AS BEAUTIFUL AND FASCINATING. I EXPLORE THAT FASCINATION IN THIS WORK BY INTENSIFYING THE DISTORTION AND ISOLATION OF MY SUBJECTS. WITH THESE PHOTOGRAPHS IT IS MY GOAL TO PULL AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE FROM THE VIEWER THAT IS MORE ABOUT THEIR OWN INTERNAL PROJECTIONS, THAN THE SUBJECTS PICTURED.