Chick-fil-A

At the Chick-fil-A protests, Sunset and Highland, Hollywood, August 1.

http://diamond.photoshelter.com/

Amoeba

The elevator at Amoeba records, Hollywood.

Gone

On LaBrea, south of Santa Monica. The building has since been demolished.

New One

This exercise started with a new smart phone back in late 2005. The Palm Treo had a basic camera that rendered some interesting, flawed images. That experiment led to film, old cameras, toy cameras, and - eventually - a digital SLR, all focused on Los Angeles and its environs.

Now comes the iPhone. Its jpg files rival those of the four-year-old Nikon DSLR's. The camera is so good that I left the Nikon home when I went on vacation and just used the phone. So there may be some more "phone" images popping up here than there have been over the last few years (this one was shot the other day on Selma Avenue near Cahuenga in Hollywood).

I could do hipstamatic and try and replicate the beauty of the Holga, but I won't. It can't.

Buddah by Two

The old Spaghetti Factory restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. The poster has since been replaced.

Rest, Clash

Wilton North, late afternoon.

Pinhole

Got one of those build-it-yourself pinhole cameras a few months ago. Takes a little getting used to - or at least a tripod.

Motel

TJ

From the checkout line at the new Trader Joe's in Hollywood. Big windows, good light.

On the Wall

Poster in an alley, just north of Hollywood east of Western.

Lit

Hollywood Boulevard, just west of Western.

Twilight

Crossing the Hollywood Boulevard bridge over the 101.

Trimming

Tree trimming at Hollywood and Van Ness.

Doug and Anna

I’ve noticed that the intersection of Bronson Avenue and Hollywood, not far from the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard the Hollywood (101) Freeway and the Tommy’s Burgers at the corner, has been a hang out for people living on the street. It’s not far from the Salvation Army’s Weingart Youth Center, and there are generally a half dozen or so kids who look to be in their teens hanging out at all hours. I’d had in mind for some time to talk to the folks who spend their days there, but many of the regulars haven’t been around in the last several weeks. On a recent Thursday afternoon, a middle-aged guy who said his name was Doug was sitting on the sidewalk, leaning back against a wall with his eyes closed, when I walked up to him. He said he was a diver and hadn’t worked in four months and had arrived in L.A. with his girlfriend 10 days earlier. Unable to find steady work up in Seattle, they made the decision to leave because “the economy sucks and the weather sucks, and if you’re going to be miserable you might as well be miserable in the sunshine.”

Top two images from the Nikon, bottom two from the Ikon.

Threatening Skies

Hard Rock

A little light shining on Hollywood Boulevard in the late afternoon. Shot on TriX 320 film, pulled one stop in processing.

Muscle

Out of the Closet thrift store, Sunset Boulevard.

Hollywood High

Morgan, Take Two

Another side of the abandoned Morgan Camera Shop, facing the Nickelodeon studio parking lot on Sunset.

Faded Film

If the sign was any indication, Morgan Camera was a pretty cool shop. It faded away a long time ago, apparently, and nothing has taken over it's Sunset Boulevard location.