A stumbling walk

Resilient c.2012

"All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity" ~ Robert F. Kennedy

"Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live."~RFK

A walk from the earth to the moon

Closer  C.2012

Giant steps are what you take walking on the moon

I hope my leg don't break walking on the moon...

I love being a tourist in my own city, especially when friends from out of town come to visit. Even if I’ve visited an eye rolling “overrated” hot spot a hundred times, it’s a completely new experience with each visit, and it's always enjoyable with the right company. I admit I take a lot of these "tourist" places for granted. It’s so easy to do so, and more often than not, the only time we notice certain spots is when the place itself closes or we lose someone who wanted to visit it.  One place I definitely took for granted was the Griffith Park Observatory.

I remember the field trips to the Observatory as a kid and I always had fun. Well, as much fun as a place of education could offer. As I got a little older I remember I began to put off plans to visit.  I swore I’d attend some of the musical shows “soon”. Then it closed down for renovations for several years during my early 20s. I can't say it was sudden. It was announced all over but I simply kept putting it off until I missed my chance. Once it reopened I fell back into the same pattern of “oh I’ll visit soon”. Before I knew it, another several years went by. I wish I had visited under different circmstances, but I finally made it back to the observatory last May, on what would've been my mother’s birthday to be exact. It was a gorgeous spring evening and I did something I’d never bothered to do before. I stood in the long line in order to look through the Zeiss telescope.  That night I finally saw the moon, up close and personal. Even though the whole process was a bit of an assembly line, and I only saw it for a few seconds, it was absolutely breathtaking. Many of my favorite songs and movie scenes center around the moon. My all time favorite author, Jules Verne, wrote an incredibly imaginative story about a few civil war vets who wanted to build a rocket ship to the moon. From the Earth to the Moon (De la Terre à la Lune, 1865) 

"Nothing can astound an American. It has often been asserted that the word "impossible" is not a French one. People have evidently been deceived by the dictionary. In America, all is easy, all is simple; and as for mechanical difficulties, they are overcome before they arise..."~Jules Verne, From the earth to the moon

Anyway, I had the chance to visit the observatory again last week with some friends that came to visit. We had some time to kill before a night out in Hollywood so it felt like a fitting way to begin their vacation. The telescope wasn’t open when we arrived but the view of the city was still enjoyable in spite of the colorful layer of smog. I have no doubt I'll be visiting this place more often. I feel lucky to have a place like this within reach. A place that makes the moon within reach.

"What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary"~ George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life

An authoritative walk through the train

Busted 

The LA metro system is lightyears behind the rest of the other major cities in the world in several aspects. I've said this before and I'm not the only one. The part of the metro system I've never understood is the "honor" system when it comes to the fare. Paper tickets are sold at each rail station where you could buy a day pass for $5 or a one way ticket for $1.50. There are also plastic "tap" passes that you can reload and pay your fare on special tap stands as you walk through any train platform. There isn't anyone you show your pass to, and there aren't any turnstiles on the majority of the stations. If you're strapped for cash, forgot to break change or don't have time to buy a ticket as the train approaches, it's understandable if you skip buying a ticket. The likelyhood of metro sheriffs citing you are quite low even though there are warning signs everywhere about the consequence of breaking this rule. A $250 fine if you're caught without the proper ticket. So when the metro police suddenly decide they want to enforce the rules, they can rake in a good amount of money. I read the MTA want to make some major changes to address this problem.  To be honest, I don't know why this loose fare method was ever the norm in the first place.

That said, everytime I've seen someone get busted I can't help but feel bad for them. Sure, it's their own fault and that's the gamble they decided to take. But I've risked it before, especially when I was in high school and I got lucky. $250 is a devastating setback for many of these violators and conversely patrons not paying their fare is devastating to the city since it quickly adds up.

Whenever I hear the occassional "TICKETS AND PASSES" echo through the train, I panic for a split second and make sure I have my pass on me. I'd rather complain about money slipping through my fingers rather than knowing exactly where that money went. My final thought on the issue? I'm quite sure less people would take that $250 risk if the MTA didn't make it so incredibly easy. 

damn...

A torn walk

Polluted sunset C.2011

One December evening, I was walking past the Disney concert hall in Downtown Los Angeles when I had the sudden urge to stop and capture the sunset through a torn fence. When I got home and reviewed what I had shot, I realized this particular frame reminded me of a photograph I'd seen before. The tear in the fence made me think of an old photo Lee Miller took during her time in Egypt in the 1930s. A female photographer in Egypt in the 1930s. Can you imagine how amazing that must've been??

 Lee Miller is one of my all time photographic heroes and an amazing inspiration (pardon my *feminist* gushing).  I came to know of her during my fascination with Man Ray in my late teens. She worked with Man Ray (in several definitions) and was his model for several of his works. Her photographs weren't looked at in depth during any of my art or photography classes in college, which is a real shame. Her talent, work, growth, and fearless approach to her photography, especially during her time as a WWII photojournalist, make her one of the most amazing artists in my book. Of course, every creative mind strives to invent their own interpretations of ideas that may have been done before. But if you've been directly influenced, it's important to give credit where it's due. As my old history professors would always say~Always site your source.

Portrait of Space C.1937 Lee Miller 

Dang, girl. You changed my life...

Keep walking...

Potential c.2012

"Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don't do that by sitting around" ~Katharine Hepburn

A walk through a famous lawn

Forever George Bailey c.2012

This afternoon I decided to visit Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. None of my family members are buried there but I've read there are several famous graves at this location, which is why I thought it would be interesting to visit. Just as I was pleasantly surprised to find Gregory Peck's tomb in Downtown L.A. sometime ago, I was just as happy to learn that James Stewart is also buried in the city. The James Stewart museum is in his hometown in Indiana,Pennsylvania so I just assumed he was buried out there. Well, I guess it goes without saying that he also happens to another one of my absolute favorite old Hollywood stars. 

I became a huge fan in college when I watched films like Mr. Smith goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story and of course, It's a Wonderful Life. That admiration turned to adoration when I read his biography and learned he had served in the military during the second world war.

Walking through the steep hills at Forest Lawn was quite peaceful and the weather was just gorgeous. It's not that I like cemeteries but I did develop a certain kind of comfort walking through them when I lost my grandma. As I was looked for Stewart's grave at a specific lot, I was intrigued by many of the designs of grave markers I passed. I also cleared off some of the ones that hadn't been visited in awhile since I don't like seeing a graves hidden in leaves and dirt. Something I must've picked up from my mom. Another thing that saddens me are children's graves and couples that are buried together. Just as I was having this thought, lo and behold, I come to find the modest grave of the legendary James Stewart who was next to his wife, Gloria Stewart. The sun was starting to set and the light was kissing his marker beautifully. There were some pennies and dead carnations on top of it which made me wonder how long they've been there. All I knew at that moment is that I wanted to appreciate the find, the weather, the view and well, life. I sat down next to Jimmy and just breathed. That's definitely not something I can say everyday.

I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world! ~George Bailey 

A repetitive walk: Pay phone hunting on Sunset Blvd

"In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv."
~Henri Cartier-Bresson

C. 2008 - 2011

Figueroa St to Silverlake Blvd

Tracing grandma's footsteps #2

Address: 3305 Pasadena Ave Los Angeles (Lincoln Heights)

Year: 1976

Former Name: Leval of California, Inc

Current Name: Leval

This past Saturday, I woke up early in order to get a head start on the long weekend and quickly get some errands out of the way. I drove down to the huge Goodwill donation center on San Fernando rd. to drop off an entire car load of junk clothes and other things. The center is near my old old neighborhood in Lincoln Heights, which is why I'm somewhat familiar with it. Anyhow, as I drove down Pasadena Ave, I realized one of my grandma's workplaces from the '76 stack was located close by.

After I unloaded the car and collected my receipt, I drove back on Pasadena Ave looking for this place. Unlike Downtown L.A., I wasn't too familiar with the area since my family moved away when I was 5 years old. I had no idea what type of building I was looking for. It was a bit strange to drive past the old church where my teenaged parents met. It was even stranger to discover my grandma worked just one block down from that church. I parked and walked up to the one story building where I heard the buzz of sewing machines hard at work. But that wasn't 3305. I walked over about half a block and I was very surprised to see the name on the 1976 document still matched name on the door. The door was closed so it may also have been shut down fairly recently.

According to the document, my grandma's time there was very short. Although, it doesn't matter to me whether she was at a specific place for a few weeks or a few years. It's still a part of her past and a part of the trail that I'm trying to piece together and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what's next.

Tracing grandma's footsteps: #1

Grandma's Footsteps c.2011

Address : 808 S. Broadway Downtown Los Angeles

Year: 1976

Former Name : Ideal Fashions

Current Name: Anjac Fashion 

I was very excited to visit the first location of my grandma's former workplaces. To be honest, I was thinking about how to approach this project throughout the day. Instead of walking to all of the locations in one go, I decided to visit one location in a given day and in chronological order.

I should mention my grandma was a seamstress her entire life, which will give everyone a better idea of the type of buildings she was at. She loved to sew outside of work too. She'd make some clothes for me when she had the extra time and resources. My favorite handmade item was a purple dress she made especially for my 2nd grade picture day. But I digress...

After I got out of work and ate a quick dinner out, I looked at the stapled 1976 W2 forms and selected one address. With a full stomach and renewed energy, I walked from Flower down to Broadway along 7th street. As I was looking for the street numbers, I noticed I wasn't too far from the location. I was at 710 and needed to find 808. The majority of the street numbers on that side of Broadway are hard to find. Most are missing or just hand painted. It was a different feeling to walk while looking up for the numbers. The shops and stands along Broadway are so overwhelmingly "in your face" that it's easy to miss some of the architectural designs that are directly above everyone's heads over second floor.

 Grandma's Footsteps c.2011

As I approached 806, I saw two unnumbered spaces then 810. I asked a vendor next door which one was 808, and she pointed at the chained gate. She went on to tell me it's out of business and completely empty. I was surprised since it didn't look abandoned. There was a security camera and the decals on the doors were completely in tact, so it looked like it was just closed for the day. I asked the vendor how long had it been closed and she said it's been about 6 months.

Grandma's Footsteps c.2011

Based on the tax form, my grandma wasn't there for too long. She never went into detail about why she  left her jobs. All I know is that she simply moved onto the next place. It was the only way she knew how to survive. She had to, for herself and for her two daughters. I'll always be thankful for that and I'll continue to thank her by retracing these steps.

The Purple Dress

f*ck yeah side ponytail!

A walk through my grandmother's past

Pursuing the American dream

I love my family (God rest their souls) but I grew up with a couple of hoarders. I've always known that to some extent but now that I'm in charge of deciding what to toss and what is worth keeping, it has really hit me. I'll never fully understand why they kept so much, although I can try understand the possibility of the stuff simply sneaking up on them over the years.

I'm having a good time finding some interesting items and I've come up with a new idea for a photo series. It came to me while I was purging my grandmother's W2 forms from the 1970s (yes, you read that correctly). I noticed she had several jobs in Downtown L.A. between 1976-81.  I wrote down a few addresses and I plan to visit each building over the next few days and take a snapshot. I'm sure I've walked past these specific places a million times before, completely unaware of the personal link. I can't wait to see what these specific addresses look like and I can't wait to share the images.

A walk through the park

Otherside of the tracks c.2009

“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart.”

Blink

Civic Center c.2011

"A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there - even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity.”~ Robert Doisneau