Sea Lions La Jolla

Artist’s Statement: D J Wilson, LRPS

My memory in youth was of these magnificent animals performing tricks in the circus yet the wild reality is so more more stunning.

A colony of California Sea Lions rests along a coastal rock ledge, bodies layered like the geology beneath them. The sea is never far, yet for this moment the urgency of water gives way to warmth, closeness, and stillness. The image explores communal presence — a living shoreline shaped by tide, stone, and breath.

This image obtained a PSA Gold Silver Medal at the Vintage Kolkata International Salon and has obtained five other awards at International Photographic Salons.

Once we knew them by bright hoops and claps,

By polished tricks beneath striped tents;

Children learned their joy rehearsed,

Their freedom framed by human hands.

Now the lessons come untaught —

Salt, surf, and muscle writing truth.