Seasons greetings

Window shopping for a Santa Claus, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles

Red Zebra

 

"The capacity to regress, more or less at will, to the games of the underground, without losing contact with the surface, seems to be the essence of the poetic, or any other form of creativity." - Arthur Koestler

 Nikon D1x w/Nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-5.6G ED

Cyber Monday

Electronics on sale.
Store window on Broadway, Los Angeles. 2011

Nikon D1x w/Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

Wall of Winners

Every once in a while I stop in this snack shop and buy a couple of lottery tickets. That wall really inspires me.

And in the same shop, by the east entrance, we have this wall of souvenirs.

Nikon D70s w/ Nikon 20mm f2.8 AF-D

As always, clicking on the image will open a larger version.

It's always about the light

California is noted for its sunlight and is one reason that so many have immigrated here. This Little Tokyo shop drinks in that wonderful sunlight and gives it back in happy colors.

Window watching

In Los Angeles, you look in a shop window and sometimes the window looks back out at you.

As always, you can click on a photo to open a larger version.

New paint on Broadway

I really love downtown Los Angeles. It's the oldest part of LA south of Olvera Street, of course, but still very much alive and hectic during shopping hours. I'm working on a project to document the changing facades of Broadway, DTLA's main commercial drag, and as I wandered south on Broadway the other day, I came upon this new (to me, anyway) wonderful mural. I'm still working on finding out who painted it.

Immediately after shooting the mural, I turned around to sort of clear my head and spotted this window display. I really like the play of street reflection, store fronts, colors and shadows, and I think this photo worked out fairly well.





UPDATE: The mural is the work of prominent Los Angeles muralist David Botello, a native of East Los Angles. The mural is entitled El Nuevo Fuego (The New Fire). The Mural Conservancy of Los Angles provides this description: "Both the pageantry of the ancient Mexican torch-lighting ceremonies (which took place in 52-year intervals) and the two 20th century Olympic Games held in Los Angeles (1932 and 1984, also a 52-year gap) are portrayed. The most prominent portraits are those of local 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning athletes Paul Gonzalez (boxing) and Valerie Brisco-Hooks (track). Also included are Greg Louganis (diving), Ernesto Canto (50 km walk), and Pierre Vignon (pole vault)."

As always, click on the image to open a new tab with a larger version.

On Skid Row

The famous Los Angeles writer Charles Bukowski used to hang out in the lobby of the Baltimore Hotel on Skid Row, watching life pass by.

Shopping

We went shopping for a sweater today. This strange Oriental lady kept following us around.

Shopping downtown

The other day was my birthday. I went to the store to buy myself a card to cheer myself, but the store had gone out of business.