← Back to the wall

Aleta

Through Rob’s lens, 2011 to 2016

Aleta was Rob’s wife from 2011 to 2016. They met around Monterey Bay, married at Big Sky Café in San Luis Obispo, moved to Barcelona, and explored whatever coast was closest. These are Rob’s photos of her — pulled from his Flickr archive, every frame composed by him. She is always the subject. He is always behind the camera.

Monterey Bay

Aquarium dates, early days. The kind of photos you take when you’re not sure yet if you’ll stick around.

Woman with dark red hair and a green top, smiling as she peers through a large bubble viewing window at an aquarium, turquoise water and fish behind her.
Behind the glass, behind the camera. Monterey Bay Aquarium, early days of Rob and Aleta’s relationship. 2011
Close-up portrait of a young woman with dark reddish hair, nose ring, and green dragon t-shirt, beaming at the camera with water streaming down glass behind her at an aquarium.
Dragon t-shirt, nose ring, full grin. The kind of photo that means you stuck around.

Burning Man

Greg died that year. Rob built a temple for him on the playa. Aleta came to help.

Woman in a green fairy-cut top with yellow socks and boots, standing on playa sand at sunset in front of a wooden memorial temple covered in photos and tributes at Burning Man. Gizmo stands in the background admiring the temple, while a woman crouches to write a message on the temple structure.
Greg’s temple at golden hour. They built it for a friend who died that year. She came to help.
A couple embracing at Burning Man at dusk, the man in a lavender tube top with goggles and a flame-print cap, the woman in green with a headlamp, the wooden temple structure behind them.
Two crusty burners and a temple for Greg. Dust in everything, embracing after a good cry for Greg.
Woman in a red sarong and wide-brimmed red hat, leaning against the wooden memorial temple on the playa, holding a drink, with photos of the deceased pinned to the temple walls and the vast desert behind her.
Red wrap, red hat, red sunset, the playa stretching out behind her, enjoying a tipple while commemorating Greg at his temple at sundown. Burning Man 2012

The Wedding

April first, 2013 — of course it was April Fools’ Day. Big Sky Café, their favourite brunch spot in SLO. His sister Karen officiated. He made the sangria himself, wore a hot pink shirt, and there were chocolate people on the cake next to a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Newlywed couple smiling in a warm restaurant, both holding champagne flutes and grinning — the woman in a layered red top with purple sleeves over a purple skirt, the man in a hot pink shirt with bright neon red buzzcut hair, wooden arches and warm lighting behind them.
Champagne, neon red hair, a pink shirt that matched nothing and everything. His sister Karen officiated Aleta & Rob’s wedding, held in their favorite brunch restaurant, Big Sky Café.
Newlywed couple outdoors at their wedding reception, feeding each other chocolate truffles — the man in an orange hoodie with pink-orange hair decorated with small hearts, the woman in a dark red top with an orange circle-print scarf, a wooden fence and stone wall behind them.
Chocolate truffles instead of a wedding cake. Orange hoodie, pink-orange hair, hearts in it. They were both chocolate people.
A large Flying Spaghetti Monster sculpture mounted above an orange-and-purple painted wooden arbor at a wedding reception — two wicker-ball eyes on stalks, white string noodles draped everywhere, greenery and decorations around the frame.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster, presiding. The closest thing they had to a religion.
Marriage certificate from the Universal Life Church, now mounted in a black frame with decorative red and purple ribbons woven around the border, displayed on a table among colorful plates.
April first, 2013. Framed in red and purple ribbons. Their colors, of course.
Man with bright neon red-orange buzzcut, wearing a black button-up shirt, pouring wine from a bottle into a large glass beverage dispenser filled with dark sangria on an outdoor patio table, with tapas and a yellow bowl beside him.
The groom makes the sangria. Neon hair, black shirt, full concentration.
Two pairs of legs from the knees down at a wedding reception — one in purple-and-black stripy tights with black platform boots, the other in rainbow-striped socks with tan open-toed sandals, standing on a stone patio with an orange cloth-draped chair behind them.
Purple stripes, rainbow stripes, and not a sensible shoe between them.

Barcelona

They rode Massa Crítica together, wore matching stripy socks, and treated Tuesdays like Fridays.

Dozens of cyclists riding at night past the illuminated Museu del Disseny building, with the glowing blue Torre Agbar tower rising behind it, neon blue light strips embedded in the ground casting streaks across the plaza.
Massa Crítica, Barcelona. A hundred bikes and the Torre Agbar glowing blue.
Close-up of a woman with red-tinted hair, holding a glass and looking directly at the camera with a calm, steady expression, dark red curtains and warm bar lighting behind her.
Birthday beers. Barcelona. The kind of Tuesday that felt like a Friday.

Amsterdam

Koningsdag 2014. Orange tutu, knee-high socks, and a shirt that read ‘Start Your Revolution.’

Wide panoramic shot of an Amsterdam canal during King’s Day, bridges packed with crowds in orange, boats filling the water, buildings lining both sides. A woman in an orange ‘Start Your Revolution’ t-shirt is visible at the far left edge.
Koningsdag from above. Bridges packed, boats on the canal, a city turned orange. She’s in there somewhere — ‘Start Your Revolution’ shirt, left edge of the frame.
Woman standing in the doorway of an Amsterdam shop during Koningsdag, wearing an orange ‘Start Your Revolution’ shirt, neon orange tutu over black leggings, colorful knee-high socks, and eating a pastry, with orange decorations and crowds visible inside.
Koningsdag 2014. Orange tutu, stripy knee-highs, and a shirt that says ‘Start Your Revolution.’ Amsterdam knew what hit it.

Catalan Coast

Their second anniversary trip, April 2015 — olive groves, stone steps, agave plants, and the coast near Cadaqués, where every lookout spot was the right one.

Woman in a dark jacket with sunglasses perched on her cap, standing on a stone seawall at twilight, looking out over a calm Mediterranean bay with boats and a headland in the distance.
Catalan coast at dusk. Two years married.
Woman with purple-tinted hair, white sunglasses, and a maroon cap, sticking her tongue out while peering through a circular hole in a large stone sculpture, backpack straps visible.
Stone circle, tongue out. Some people pose. Some people play. Salvador Dalí House-Museum, Cadaqués, Spain. April 2015
Woman in a colorful patterned top and dark cardigan, standing on a hillside among olive trees overlooking a turquoise Mediterranean inlet with green headlands on either side.
Olive groves down to the water. The coast near Cadaqués.
Woman looking up through olive branches at the sky, wearing the same patterned top and dark cardigan, the Mediterranean bay and headland visible behind her on a bright spring day.
She looked up. He looked at her. Cadaqués, Spain, April 2015
Woman in a purple cardigan and patterned top, standing on stone steps beside a metal railing, with agave plants, cypress trees, and flowering shrubs framing a view of turquoise Mediterranean water and rocky headlands.
Mediterranean on one side, agave on the other. Rob knew all the good lookout spots.

All photos by Rob, from his Flickr archive.