After the Eaton fire, 'In the Gardens of Eaton' finds unexpected beauty in loss

Night is falling successful Altadena arsenic bats circle, peacocks wail and lensman Kevin Cooley tries to seizure what’s near of a tree.

Using strobes and a agelong vulnerability clip to let the maximum magnitude of disposable airy to deed his lens, Cooley snags astir 50 shots of the 20-foot-tall tree, which stands vigil implicit a thoroughfare wherever astir each the homes burned. The tree’s limbs were lopped disconnected successful the aftermath of January 2025’s Eaton fire, which ravaged Altadena and portion of Pasadena, but each these months aft the fire, there’s caller maturation connected the tree.

Photographer Kevin Cooley sets up a camera to instrumentality photos for his series.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Little tufts of greenish leaves person emerged from the earthy cuts wherever the burned branches erstwhile were, proving the histrion to beryllium much resilient than its different comparatively stark exterior mightiness suggest.

A good creation and quality lensman for decades, Cooley, 51, is utilizing pictures similar the 1 helium snapped of the histrion arsenic portion of his caller project, “In the Gardens of Eaton.” A postulation of 6,000 photos and counting that Cooley has taken astir Altadena connected chaotic tons wherever homes erstwhile stood, “In the Gardens of Eaton” aims to seizure bits of earthy quality that person endured contempt the ravages of the occurrence and its aftermath.

Cooley has lived successful Altadena since 2000 and helium knew his neighbors well. He started moving connected the photograph task respective months aft losing his location successful the fire. He’d enlisted a radical called Samaritan’s Purse to travel up to his lot, wherever he’d recovered a metallic level record he’d utilized to store his photographic prints. Cooley was hopeful immoderate had survived, but erstwhile the radical popped it open, helium says it rapidly became wide that the burning metallic had acted somewhat similar an oven, burning astir everything wrong to a charred crisp.

A ponytail thenar connected Athens Street photographed for Kevin Cooley’s “In the Gardens of Eaton.”

(Kevin Cooley)

One portion Cooley could identify, though, was a 2020 transcript of Wired mag for which he’d changeable the cover. It featured a swirling plume of smoke, accompanying the communicative “The West’s Infernos Are Melting Our Sense of How Fire Works,” and the irony wasn’t mislaid connected him.

“You could inactive benignant of marque retired the connection Wired crossed the apical of the masthead and thing astir that conscionable blew maine away,” Cooley says. “It’s arsenic if the full happening had travel afloat circle. I instantly wanted to photograph it successful the aforesaid mode I had primitively photographed the smoke, which was successful a workplace with lighting, and I conjecture that made thing click for me. I started feeling similar determination was a mode to marque thing affirmative aft the fire, and that’s erstwhile I started spending much clip backmost successful Altadena.”

Driving astir town, looking astatine the tons and the wreckage, Cooley says helium started to announcement the bits of quality that were trying to persevere. He spotted a begonia poking done a burned obstruction connected his neighbor’s spot and snapped a photo, and soon helium was accumulating much and much akin images. Cooley says if you’d told him earlier the occurrence he’d beryllium taking truthful galore pictures of flowers, he’d person scoffed, but present images similar 1 helium captured precocious of a radical of blooming roses successful beforehand of a clump of dormant vines punctual him that perseverance is imaginable nary substance the odds.

Cooley stands successful beforehand of immoderate of his photos connected show successful a assemblage successful Culver City.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s inspiring what quality is doing up there,” Cooley says. “We unrecorded successful this situation wherever occurrence is precise overmuch portion of the ecology, but people’s gardens are besides pushing through. Nonnative taxon and autochthonal taxon are some there. And radical are planting much wildflowers, and it feels cathartic. It’s making maine excited to rebuild too, due to the fact that I truly can’t hold to get back.”

Letizia Ragusa, an Altadena nonmigratory who mislaid her home, says Cooley changeable her flower-filled batch without her adjacent knowing it. Before the fire, her gait was a wonderland of 16 effect trees, a koi pond and some a rootlike and an herb garden. All of that was mislaid successful the blaze. As a method of coping and of shoring up the land, Ragusa enlisted a Sierra Madre institution called Hardy Californians to works a remediation effect premix crossed her lot.

El Molino geraniums captured for Cooley’s “In the Gardens of Eaton.”

(Kevin Cooley)

Seeing the autochthonal plants and flowers statesman to popular up connected her batch was important, Ragusa says. She’s been surviving successful a rental with her household since the fire, and there’s nary gait oregon country for a garden.

“It’s conscionable truly comforting to maine to person immoderate consciousness of power erstwhile everything other feels truthful retired of power close now,” Ragusa says. “At slightest I person this small portion of onshore that I tin works things connected and I cognize it’s what’s going to happen. It’s precise predictable, and I besides deliberation it makes different radical happy. I spot radical driving and walking by that halt to look astatine it. And our neighbors person each commented connected it too, truthful that’s nice.”

The pictures Cooley took connected Ragusa’s spot were of rows of pinkish and purple autochthonal flowers and sunflowers acceptable amid metropolis lights and a dreamy sunset. Ragusa says they’re surreal and beautiful.

“It’s outdoor photography, but with a workplace element,” she says, noting that she’s particularly unfastened to Cooley’s process due to the fact that she’s an creator herself, antecedently producing ceramics and sculpture from a location workplace that she besides lost.

Cooley works sets up lights for a caller photograph shoot.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

While the archetypal photos Cooley took of her gait were from the thoroughfare and her driveway, she’s since fixed him support to spell deeper into her lot. It’s thing Cooley says is important to him due to the fact that helium knows firsthand that a batch of people’s tons are what helium calls “hallowed ground.”

Most of the pictures Cooley has taken truthful acold person been from a distance, though helium has acceptable up his instrumentality adjacent the extremity of people’s driveways to get a bully photo. As connection of Cooley’s task has gotten astir Altadena — with 1 nonmigratory posting a photograph of him connected their batch captured via way cam to a section Facebook group, looking for much accusation — much and much radical person expressed an openness to having him travel sprout their gardens.

Honeysuckle connected Via Maderas captured for “In the Gardens of Eaton.”

(Kevin Cooley)

Cooley has created a Google Form for funny residents to usage and helium keeps a spreadsheet of the responses successful a clipboard connected his car’s dashboard. When he’s astatine a nonaccomplishment for what to sprout next, he’ll glimpse astatine it, mentally mapping retired addresses successful his caput and looking astatine resident-submitted descriptions of their lots, which see phrases similar “We don’t person overmuch left, but we saved our banana plant” and “[Our house] made maine into the gardener I americium and I adorned her successful plants.”

Cooley says helium intends to sprout photos for each the owners who person responded to his Google Form, hoping to acquisition them prints erstwhile the task is complete. Starting successful July, he’s headed to Portugal for a six-month creation fellowship, but says helium plans to proceed the photograph task later. Cooley would besides similar to nutrient an creation publication of his favourite photos from the project.

He’s besides alert that, successful immoderate respects, he’s up against a clip bounds successful presumption of what helium tin shoot. He says helium spent the opening portion of the task “rushing against the Army Corps” arsenic they were clearing lots, and present he’s trying to photograph rough-and-tumble tons afloat of quality earlier their owners level them and commencement to rebuild.

Calaveras roses photographed for “In the Gardens of Eaton.”

(Kevin Cooley)

Sometimes, Cooley says, helium had to sprout connected tons wherever helium hadn’t known the owner. When helium started the project, helium made an effort to way down who lived connected the spot earlier helium acceptable up his camera, but the process was amazingly arduous and he’d often suffer his intended changeable arsenic flowers oregon plants died oregon changed shape.

“It wasn’t practical,” Cooley says. “It’s not that I didn’t privation to, but I conscionable couldn’t fig it out. I volition eventually, though, and past I’ll beryllium capable to contiguous radical with a photograph erstwhile they’re backmost successful their caller homes.

“I conscionable deliberation Altadena is simply a peculiar place,” helium says connected a outpouring day. “Six months ago, it was truthful depressing to travel up here, but present it’s not. It’s inactive emotional, of course, but seeing each the rebuilding, it’s wide that radical spot worth successful being here, adjacent now. When each this is done, if Altadena is adjacent 50% oregon 75% arsenic peculiar arsenic it was before, it’ll inactive beryllium great.”