The lost art of walking

In the winter of '08, I inadvertently received one of my favorite photography books as a christmas present. Inadvertent because I was given a gift card to Borders, and well, the rest is history. Over the past year I've read what I could here and there and only until recently have I come to appreciate the treasure I found on Sunset and Vine.

This book embodies everything I admire about the man and everything I hope to build through my own vision. His life's portfolio is so much more than Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville.

A visual historian of the city of Paris is how I choose to approach his work. The stories, observations, and of course his photographs, takes the viewer through the rapid changes of this metropolis while simultaneously going inside the mind of an old man who adores his hometown in spite of many of the transitions.

There are others that have their last names titled with a specific city...Lee Miller's Paris, Cartier-Bresson's Paris etc etc However each vision is completely different. Like with any major city in the world, there are many recording their cities as they know it. Each vision is unique even if the subject has been covered before.That is something I have to keep reminding myself from time to time...and time to time...

At this point in time, my approach to photography is one of preservation. Whether I take someone's portrait or shoot cityscapes, I feel its important to record something that can be used as a visual document in the future. I suppose some artists say "someone else will do it" when it comes to using visual tools for historical purposes. For now, I guess I am that "someone else"

I haven’t forgotten about this site. I’ve actually been itching to figure out a way to stay disciplined in order to keep myself from reaching too far back into my memory bank. Year’s end was complicated, messy, and a bit overwhelming but I’m happy to report that my head is nearly screwed in properly again.

I’ve been without proper personal Internet access for about 6 weeks, and in this day and age, can seem like an eternity. My phone has been my portal to the world and my sidekick when I’ve gone on various leisurely photo shoots. My phone isn’t my camera of choice as I’ve mentioned sometime ago, but again, I have to admit it has come in handy.

Recently, I was scrolling through some of the photos I took with my phone, I remembered this a particular time I took a walk with my boyfriend along 4th street. There is a small pocket of nice restaurants and bars in between Main and Los Angeles. It’s crowded and busy during the Art walk which occurs once a month, but most evenings the streets are quite bare.

After dinner late one evening my boyfriend pointed to an old dimly lit sign. “Klyt” We laughed at the possibilities of what on earth this place could be. We speculated and it was safe to assume its sexually oriented although I’d find it hilarious if it turned out to be a daycare center or a Pentecostal church. We wondered… was this some after hours lesbian bar? Too obvious perhaps…Is this L.A.’s own “Rectum” as seen in the movie “Irreversible”.

I also wondered how long that place had been there. It isn’t too far from the toy district and I had walked past this hole in the wall countless times. Clearly, I was less observant in my youth.

I had asked a few people who were familiar with the area if they had ever heard of this place. No one knew …or wouldn’t admit that they knew. For one reason or another I quickly forgot about Klyt.

Months later, here I am, stumbling upon an archived picture on my phone. I “googled” the name and upon some light investigation, it turns out it opened in the early 1920s and is one of the city’s oldest bathhouses and a speculated favorite of Rock Hudson.

I’m not sure how much is written about this place, or if any of the floating information is fact but I’d be curious to know more about its history. I’m not sure when I’d be able to look more in depth about this pocket in the city but it does make me wonder what else has surrounded the immediate area over the last 90 years. It would be really interesting to find out…

6th and skid C.2009 Los Angeles, CA

"My behavior was completely unpremeditated. The morning light was enough to get me going, without rhyme or reason. Was it really reasonable to love whatever I happened to see? I never asked myself that question. Nor do I regret it, because once you start taking your alarm clock apart you no longer know what time it is...

6th and skid C.2009 Los Angeles, CA

...For half a century I pounded the cobblestones, then asphalt, of Paris, wandering up and down the city. This activity required no special physical prowess, Paris not being Los Angeles, thank heavens, and traveling by foot not considered a sign of poverty here".~Robert Doisneau

6th and skid C.2009 Los Angeles, CA

Directions C.2009 Hollywood, CA

I was hesitant to post this picture. I was trying to reserve this little outlet of mine strictly to 35mm prints. After some thought, I’ve realized if these entries are about my findings while walking through this city, then I have to be ready to share what I’ve captured with whatever I have on me at that moment.

There’s no denying the advantages modern day technology. While there may be a fine line between technological usefulness and uselessness for certain things, I can appreciate the capabilities of our “essential” items, such as cameras and the Internet on mobile phones. Just yesterday one of these features helped me find the one public library in the entire city that had the book I wanted to check out; Istanbul to Cairo on a shoestring.

One of these features also allowed me to capture something that would break my three-month absence from this site.

Upon entrance into the Los Feliz Public library I noticed a piece of paper practically laminated over the center of a payphone.

“Not In Service
Please use the telephone at 2000 Hillhurst Av.
On the northeast corner of Finley Av.
2 blocks north of the library.”

Gutted payphones are becoming commonplace. That’s been my own observation since I started my mad hunt (or obsession) particularly in the last two years. However, this was the first time that I had seen a notice of any kind on a debunked phone. This was also the first time I had seen posted directions to the nearest working phone. I’ve seen notices on newspaper stands and mailboxes but never on a phone.

Why was this odd to me? Of the payphones that are out there in the streets of L.A., its usually quite obvious if they’re working or not… the phones are physically there or physically gone. In my fairly recent encounters with payphones, there hasn’t been a “middle ground”. The payphone at the Los Feliz library is an example of the middle ground.

In my quest to collect the city’s dying communication portal, I suppose its time to acknowledge my preexisting archived digital images…

60th floor C.2007 Los Angeles, CA

6^th and Hope. I first made my acquaintance with this area en route to Garfield High after my family moved out of East L.A. It was my connecting point from the Redline (our subway) to the Eastbound line 18. A very friendly homeless Vietnam Veteran was always at this corner. He had crutches and always greeted me with a smile every morning.

The bus stop was near the corner which also happened to be near rat infested bushes. The bushes would always rattle from their movement and it was incredibly gross. Because of this the buses seemed to take even longer to arrive in the mornings. Time really is relative.

The area around that bus stop has been renovated for several years now. Its all cleaned up with places to eat and all. The rats have relocated to the bushes around Pershing Square which is about a block down the street.

I think about the friendly Vietnam Vet from time to time. I hope he eventually relocated to a place he can call home.

Reflection C.2007 Los Angeles, CA

Every time I take a walk to the Central library in downtown, I love to walk through the plaza by the Library Tower. I remember the construction of the buildings surrounding the library. I really was quite young. My elementary school wasn’t too far from downtown (Boyle and Brooklyn) so I’d see the construction of the skyscrapers pretty often. Grandma worked at a sweatshop in the fashion district so spending some time afterschool on Broadway wasn’t uncommon. When the majority of the “newer” buildings were completed, I remember looking at pictures of New York City and thinking how boring our skyline still looked. My grandma expressed her recollections of when she first arrived to this city from El Salvador in the late 60’s. She imagined Los Angeles to be this grand metropolis and essentially expected to see the New York city skyline. She was bitterly disappointed. I could only imagine… some of the older skyscrapers were completed in the 70s, well after her arrival.

I didn’t really start exploring the immediate area around the Tower until I was in high school. I’d often go to the Central library and the tower happens to be across the street. Knowing the tallest building west of the Mississippi was on my way home from school seemed insanely cool to me at the time.

As I slowly became immersed in the world of photography, I often revisited my old pockets of solitude. I enjoy taking upward shots simply because this was the same point of view I had as a 7yr old, a 17yr old, and now as a 27 yr old. I always feel incredibly small whenever I get lost in thought while I look up. Yes, smaller than usual.

This shot was selected as a finalist in Photographer’s forum magazine in 2008. The sentimental value simply made this news even sweeter.

A penny for your thoughts C. 2008 Hollywood, CA

I rarely load color film into 35mm canon but I wasn’t in school and this was the easiest way to obtain processed negatives. I don’t normally like color film because I am not in control during the processing or development…or even the printer for that matter.

I was walking along Hollywood blvd one Sunday afternoon last fall when something caught my eye. As I waited at the corner of Hollywood and Highland, a homeless man came and stood right in front of me. Lost in thought, he seemed to be debating which corner he would be crossing. As he looked to his left, I noticed a penny hanging from his headband. Quietly, I lifted my camera, focused and snapped a shot. From the looks of it, he was definitely thinking about something completely different.