My neighborhood, my part of L.A. is a little-publicized, fascinating old school part of Los Angeles which hasn't changed much from how it was in the 1980s and 1990s. South East Hollywood, East Hollywood and Wilshire Center. When I walk these streets I'm reminded of the great paintings of the modern and post-modern era, Picasso and Basquiat, Ernst and Miro, De Kooning, I'm reminded of Garbage Pail Kids, Bukowski comes to mind, my childhood and boyhood and teenage years come to mind, I grew up here.
I walk these streets at different times of the day---morning, noon, afternoon and early evening---often taking photographs with my Canon camera or the camera on my Samsung Android mobile phone, at my side usually a small plastic grocery bag with one or two plastic bottles of water in there. Only when the weather is too hot do I hold back from these city blocks. I walk and go through these streets like Spider-Man swang through New York City in the 1980s Marvel Comics, snapping photographs and looking for action---not looking to get into trouble, but if some trouble pops off I am sometimes there to see it, see part of it, or see the aftermath. More often I just see the helicopters circling blocks away and the responding units on their way.
There are really few if any persons who do this in my part of the city. I've seen hardly any, if any, other persons doing this. These streets can be dangerous, often when you least expect it. But most activities can be or are dangerous. Driving is dangerous. Eating a sandwich can be dangerous. I've had few problems on these streets. I've found a lot of what I was looking for on these streets. On many of these streets I can imagine it's 1989 or 1992, and hardly another person in sight many times even in broad daylight on some of these streets.
These several photos that I've posted here are a sample and a glimpse of my part of Los Angeles and of my photography style. In these pics though, you can get an idea and a clear accurate look into my neighborhood as it actually is.
