baptist molder

banksy posted up on a wall on washington and longbeach just a block away from this.
a strange old church with a house attached.
if only he knew, i guess it makes no difference.

river tributaries

LA river is a big concrete wonderland. in certain parts the tributaries are open and you can travel
along with the rats deep under the belly of the city. its pretty damn creepy.

tams #7

good eats in this OG spot, 51st and central. tams #7.
facing in the direction of south LA now.

jewelry district

looking out of an alley around 7th and hill

el gavilan

 these were taken on the corner of washington and central.

make of it what you can

somebody had placed these objects on the ground by the side of a building portal in the vicinity of 6th and crocker.

turning point

drove by this old theater builing on broadway a few days back and noticed its undergoing a face lift.

broadway around 6th

before this building was restored i would marvel at the condition of the paint.
it was left to run its course for the longest period of time, until maybe a couple of years back when it was painted yellow.

temple of the sun

around 98th and broadway.

fallas peredes

there was a scaffolding around this building, put there after i had taken these shots, and i thought "uh huh, here we go, they are going to wreck another nice little piece of history, a microcosm of LA life down the toilet with new landlords and all that bullshit", but no, i was wrong, fallas peredes has expanded to the second floor, now three levels, and the building just looks cleaner. 

stuff

i was at aud's and derek's old place, a top floor loft facing main st. we watched a battalion of police officers cuff some dude, and haul him away. he had a plastic bag with him that he dropped by the sidewalk.
when i left aud's i grabbed the bag, carried it home and photographed the contents.

cadence

 row of cadilacs on imperial in south LA.

commonplace

for years this building on 9th and Hill stood slowly collecting grime, soot, syringes, broken windows, graffiti, used rubbers, blood, and families and families of rats, as well as serving as a valuable source for parking has now joined the dandy lot, the prancing pony club.
sandblasted, fresh paint, new windows and blah blah blah. basically fucked it.
i know i know, that sounds kind of negative, but call me sentimental. i like the way time leaves its mark. especially on something so glorious as downtown los angeles.

HAIKYO
this is a Japanese word that describes a sentiment and fascination with the decay of architecture.

wabash

I took this picture on Wabash st in east LA. I am afraid I could not let this
architectural oddity pass me by. I thought the add-ons to the initial structure
were really worth photographing. its two 4x5 b/w frames stitched together
in photoshop.

flower district

there used to be regulars that would spend time in the shade on the wall

inmo

side A



side B

found object at 4th and spring

two corners

two corners that have forever changed. both of these frames were taken around mid 2004.
its so different on both of these corners now,

the image below is 5th and broadway, now there is a rite aid drug store, and the building is gentryfied.




and this is 8th and broadway, also a new loft gentryfication job, with a necklace of biege planters and cute mini pines.



I suppose I should be thinking about reshooting these two corners, but now that they are glammed up they don't have the same appeal.

crack pipe of some sort

I was walking down San Pedro St, just having crossed 6th, and en-route to 5th, when I stepped over some neatly folded newspaper, I took a few more paces and then stopped. for some reason I had not stood on that folded piece of newspaper. my curiousity went on auto pilot. I went back and unwrapped the paper and this fucking filthy ass crack-pipe was all bundled up and still in one piece and now in my hands. good job I had my shoulder bag with me, unfortunatly I had to carry it with me for the rest of the afternoon, but, I got it back safe for a photograph.
I guess you just never know whats in a nicely folded piece of newspaper on the ground in the street.

9th & broadway

the images above are from 9th and broadway in downtown LA.
the building looks like it used to be a dept store, but its been sitting suspended like this for some time. the developers seem to be going through spurts on the gentrification of this building. personally I like it just the way it is.
I realize this block will change, but I enjoy it while I can.
the developers, in my opinion, always try and pretty up their investments, but rarely do I like the beige and planters.
I prefer the accumulation of artifacts and the build up of layers of grit and grime that occur over long periods of time. it tells me something about a place.

downtown LA portraits

a triptych of portraits made in downtown LA.