Urban Marinade

The streets of Los Angeles were calling my name. Two years had passed since my last visit to the City of Angels and I wasn’t happy about that. So you can understand my excitement in knowing I’d be photographing AARP’s annual national event this year in LA. Aside from the usual crop of celebrities and performers that go with AARP’s event, I knew I’d have a chance to explore and photograph more of this mysterious city I’ve really grown to love. The images above are just a small sample of a gallery I’ll be producing in the coming weeks.

So why all the love for this city? Don’t most people think LA is nothing more than fake boobs, pretentiousness, out-of-touch actors and wannabe loners? Sure… and that’s why I love the city. Because LA is so much more than that. To sum it up, LA is everything. LA is a massive city. But it’s also small neighborhoods and towns clustered in a giant metro region. LA is glamorous. But it’s also gritty and dirty and has old-school character. LA has sprawl. But it also has walkable neighborhoods where many never use cars. LA is warm. LA is cool. LA has the beach. LA has the skyscrapers downtown. LA has Rodeo. LA has Melrose. LA is American, Mexican, Japanese, Korean and pretty much everything else. I really don’t think there is anything you can’t find in LA. And because of that diversity in everything, I love it! I can photograph skid row one afternoon and then shoot images of celebrities on the red carpet. I can hang with hipsters in Echo Park or sip wine in Beverly Hills. Sure, you have to drive from time to time. But name another city in the U.S. that can take you from snow covered mountains to tropical palm tree lined beaches in a short drive. As the song goes… I love LA!