The People Of Downtown Los Angeles

I awoke last Saturday morning before the sun and headed to the heart of Los Angeles.  The destination was the Flower Market to do some street photography with a group.  It was not my idea to get up at this hour and head to the city, but I went along with it and it turned out to be an interesting adventure.  I am always up to try new things and this was something new.

You can smell the freshly cut flowers for blocks.  All of the smiling faces, beautiful colors and happy people were nice to see but it wasn't really what I wanted to look at.
I decided to skip the market of tourists to get lost in the streets of downtown Los Angeles at 6:30 in the morning.  The idea and essence of "street shooting" to some photographers is to take a photograph unnoticed. Yes, I can do that but for the most part, I like to interact with my subjects. Because of where I like to go, most of the time I don't necessarily blend in with the surroundings I choose to place myself in.  Most people will notice me.  In some cases, the locals were more than happy to pose for me.  Even though I prefer "non posed" photographs, I enjoyed these two men being more than willing to be in front of the lens.

I walked up and down the streets until I got a little lost.  For a moment, I felt uneasy but I kept my head up so I wouldn't miss anything.  A tall blonde holding a large camera and wearing flip flops in the heart of the city in the early morning isn't something the locals come across I suppose.  There were mumblings with everyone I passed and one individual said, "hey lady, you want to take my picture?"  To that I turned and said, "why yes I do!" Once I pointed the camera towards his direction, his friends surrounding him cracked up and yelled, "ahhhhhh, she called your bluff!" He hid and ran around in circles and when he finally calmed down, he lit a joint and told me to take a picture.  I did.

I eventually headed back to the flower market to breathe in the delicious scents and to take a last look before I left.  The city is so beautiful in the morning, especially on a Saturday when it's void of weekday workers.

Occupy Wall Street Demonstration In Los Angeles

I ventured downtown to do some street shooting and capture the people involved in Occupy Los Angeles.  The energy was high and everyone I saw was peaceful and friendly to each other.  There were some debates among people with different opinions but that is what I love about this country.  We can have a difference of opinion and share it peacefully.  I wanted to show some photographs of what I observed on Saturday for the people who aren't in the area and want to know what is going on.  You can draw your own conclusions and opinions.  I have more photographs on my facebook fan page.  You can be a fan and see more photographs HERE.

Photographs On Airstream, Inc. Website

As you might know, I photographed the people and the activities of Alumapalooza in 2010 and in 2011.  This is the event held at the birthplace of Airstream in Jackson Center, Ohio.  In the new redesign of the Airstream.com website, my photographs are displayed in the President's Letter section (the photograph I took of Bob Wheeler was from Alumapalooza 2010), Community Section and the Favorites section.  I am thrilled that my travel website (the one you are on now) is named second in the "People" tab.  I look forward to Alumapalooza 2012!  

Here are a few screen shots from the Airstream.com website and after the screen shots, I have attached the video slideshows I put together for each year.  You might guess that I love animals (especially dogs) if you watch the slideshows.

My Brother's Wedding

My brother tied the knot the other day in San Diego to his long term girlfriend, Aurora.  It was a small ceremony at the courthouse and a gathering at their home afterwards.  It was quick but sweet.  They had a photographer on hand to take photographs, but I wanted to take a few to remember the way I saw things.   Here are a few from the day.

And yes, the bride is wiping off the car they drove to the courthouse.  It's my step father's car (the one with the beard) with the "grumpy old man" personalized license plate.  He will be 90 in a month.

We are all a bit slightly skewed from "normal" but that's the way we like it.

The Last Self Portrait

I usually take photographs during the day.  I was challenged to come up with something at night.  However, I didn't want the usual street scene with lights, neon, and car headlights.

A friend of mine likes to play a game inspired by the tv show, "I shouldn't be alive."  Or as I like to call it, "I should be dead."  This game is to choose one of the most extreme weather situations to see which one you would rather try to survive in.  The choices are (you are all alone with nothing in these situations) in the middle of the desert, in snow, in the middle of the ocean or the rainforest.  We debate on which would be the least painful and perhaps the most "survivorable."  I chose the rainforest and maybe the desert second.  What would you choose?

Anyway, back to the assignment.  I struggled on what to photograph until I passed by some chopped up pieces of wood in a small industrial area.  The first thought that came to my mind is the scene in the movie Fargo where a person gets fed to the wood chipper.  What if I drove by and saw an arm or leg mixed in with the pile of wood?  Well, why not recreate what was already on my mind?

So I did.  After the wood pile, I was excited to do more self portraits of scenes where you might see legs in areas where you least expect.  Perhaps these are murder scenes as viewed by people passing by or perhaps it's suicide and the camera documents the photographer's last self portrait.  Either way, its what you interpret in your head that makes up the story.

So, this might veer from my normal "style" but a welcome one in my mind.  It's a piece of my inside being reflected in a photograph.  The "last self portraits" were taken in order of the wood, wood chipper, by the telephone pole, and hung from the stairs.  As soon as I began, I couldn't stop thinking of more scenes.

Maybe these scenarios should be included in the "I shouldn't be alive" game.  Well, I suppose these photographs are from the "I didn't survive" program.  Either way, it was fun to do.  As I showed these images to my class, one student shouted out, "you're sick!" That was the best compliment I could have received.  I think he's right.