The subject of this photo is colloquially known as “Scrippshenge” by the locals in San Diego. Twice a year, the sun aligns perfectly down the center of the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, an icon of UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a vital research facility. Campus photographer Erik Jepsen wanted to capture the popularity of the phenomenon. He patiently waited in the back as more than 100 people shimmied into position under the pier to watch the sunset alignment. The photo was widely shared among UC San Diego media and the San Diego community, becoming one of the school’s most viral and distributed images of 2023.
From the Judges
This is a good example of the difference between a pretty picture (just showing the sunset) and a storytelling image (showing the crowd of photographers and the surfer, too). Like a lot of the best photography, this image happened because the photographer conceptualized the image, arrived in advance to secure the necessary position to execute his vision, and then waited.
