From the Wings

A scene from the wings of the Spring Dance Concert.

Dance Performance

Trudl Zipper Dance Institute - Spring Concert
Aratani Japan America Theater in downtown Los Angeles
Saturday, May 16 7:00 PM and Sunday, May 17 3 PM
Admission: Free

8 Piece

Los Angeles, Ca., 2005

Winston Byrd

Every now and then I feel someone let me in on a very cool secret. That’s how I felt tonight when I went to see jazz trumpeter Winston Byrd and his Jazz Orchestra “blow the top” off Jerry’s Flying Fox in the Crenshaw district. There are all these (about 16) incredible jazz musicians in this funky little jazz lounge. I could practically pat Winston on his back as he was conducting the orchestra. Great jazz!

Grey

Ruta's new dress.

Please Turn Off All Cell Phones

Recital. The Colburn School of Performing Arts.

Vapid Hollywood

Spring is in the air even here in the southland.

Hollywood

I love our overcast days in SoCal.

Rain

Sometimes it rains in LA.

Strange Sights

You see the strangest things in LA. I mean, a bicycle in Los Angeles?

What's Your Story?

I had set up a photo studio in the dance studio of the Colburn Dance Institute which is located in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. I was waiting for the arrival of a couple of dancers when Atsuko sort of shuffled by. She was on her way home after a class where she was studying the Japanese Tea ceremony. She was wearing a beautiful kimono and she graciously agreed to be photographed. During the course of this little impromptu session she told me that when she was first learning to put on the kimono properly it took her over two hours just to tie the obi (sash). Now that she’s had practice, it only takes her 30 minutes. And in her own words:

“I am happy that I was able to share with people about a part of my culture through the Kimono….The kimono strikes body movement, and I have to watch my movement, but I believe it brings a beauty of the Kimono....

Anyway, I am happy that people can enjoy the Kimono, too.”

History

These photographs were taken in an area of Los Angeles that is often referred to as south central, in a little restaurant bar called The Town House. Another historic event happened not too far from here, one of the worst race riots in the history of the United States. But on this particular night, the scene was not unlike a baptist revival. I'm pretty sure there were people in this room that never believed that they would live to see the day that an African American would be elected president. Margaret Bush-Ware (the woman wearing the bracelets with her hands in front of her face), as an 11-year old girl, woke one morning to see a cross burning in the front yard of her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This night the tears were of unbridled joy. Of all the places I could have been on this night, I think this was nearly perfect.

Dark Knight

Observer Observed

DOT

Department of Transportation, downtown Los Angeles.

Convergence

I'm walking in downtown LA at 7pm, making my way through Pershing Square. The light is soft. I see an elderly Asian man stopped, hunched over a couple of bags. I snap a picture. I wait a moment and snap another picture, He seems to be stooped over there for an unusually long time, time enough for me to walk closer and snap another frame. Finally he straightens and he motions to passersby. Some slow but don’t seem to understand what he wants. I approach him and ask. He stretches his hand out to me and shows me that in his palm is some change: a couple quarters, a nickel, dimes maybe a few pennies. He motions to a figure lying at the edge of the sidewalk, at the corner of the square, in a fetal position. “You want me to give him this money?” I ask. “Yes, yes, give him this money” he says. I take the change from the old man and take it to the man lying on the sidewalk. For some reason I’m anxious. I start to place the money next to the sleeping man and despite my efforts to be quiet and not wake him, he stirs. “what do you want?” he asks. “The man over there wants to give you this money,” I reply, “I’ll just put it here next to you”. “Okay," he says. I turn to the Asian man and start to walk toward him, he smiles broadly. He picks up his bags and begins to shuffle off down Olive street and I stand at the corner waiting to walk up 5th. As I glance back at the figure, I see him in one sweep of his arm scattering the change across the sidewalk and into the street. I look toward the the old Asian man, he is too far away to hear or notice. I start toward him looking as the money rolls into the street but then I turn back to 5th and continue on my way.

Clean Windshield

Mid-city area of Los Angeles, California.

I had the opportunity to listen to Jim Brandenburg speak when I was in college. Brandenburg is a photographer for the National Geographic and has produced some amazing work in his career. This may seem strange but the one thing I remember him saying was he convinced the powers that be to let him fly first-class because the windows were cleaner and clearer, the better to shoot the aerials that the Geographic is so fond of. As a 20-something college student I assumed that I would always fly first-class where ever I went, at the same time I did realize that I probably would never work for the Geographic....for one thing I don't really like shooting landscapes or wildlife. All this to say that it's worth keeping the windshield clean.

Our Lady

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California.

The Brewery

David and Gretchen (that's David in the photo below but that's not Gretchen) invited us to a party at their loft at the brewery. It just happened to be on the same weekend as the Spring Art Walk. Twice a year the artists at the brewery throw their doors open and let the common folk in for a peek. This is really cool. First you get to see some pretty fantastic art, second the people watching is great and last but not least you get to snoop around in some artists' living quarters. Most of the kitchens were pretty cool. And maybe it was because there were a lot of guests but a lot of fridges seemed to be filled with beer. The two bathrooms I got to look in were pretty funky too. Can't wait till the next one. For you out-of-towners, the brewery was...a brewery where Pabst Blue Ribbon was brewed and is now the country's largest artist colony. By the way Gretchen was feature in a beautiful photo in the LA Times.

South Atwater Village

If you've spent any time at all near the LA River, even driving along side of it on the I-5 then you've probably seen some of the work of artist Leo Limon. Limon is the artist known for turning storm drain outlets into cats.



Patience is not one of the characteristics that pop into mind when I describe myself but I have been known to wait for an element to come into a composition that will make a picture unique. I saw these pigeons sitting on these concrete piers at the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge and I knew that eventually they would take-off. After I made this picture I recomposed and the waiting continued….I lost the second time and gave up on what in my mind would have been a better picture….another reason to hate pigeons.