Accidents happen

...and as I removed the film from my Continette I see that I had written the number 14 on the side of the roll. By the looks of it, there's some shots of Chris Burden's "Urban Lights" installation at LACMA and some other random shots of plants and streetscapes showing through each of these frames. In some cases they make for a nice composition.  

Drive-by shootings: Continette w/ expired film.

DOCUMENT: West Adams (WA) 20160213_Tastemaking, Vinyl records, organic vegetables, and a humble Superiority Complex as a way to reinforce the community in the face of gentrification.

From a productivity point of view, today was one of those days in which not much on my list got done, but I'm going to blame the weather for that. You see, it's Winter in Los Angeles, and it is about 80 degrees outside. It is not my fault.

My friend Dylan texted me yesterday saying he wanted to shoot some pieces of graffiti in my neighborhood. He has been working on a wet plate collodion project called "Public Access", and since he told me about it, I have been pseudo-scouting my surroundings for him.

We met around 8:30 and headed out all the way to the end of the block to shoot a piece called Supernatural Conductor by Ekundayo. I shot around the block, and documented his process on film as he prepared the plates, loaded up, shot the image and developed the plate in a make shift chemistry lab / dark room right on the sidewalk. Then, we drove around back streets and alleys looking for other potential pieces to shoot. We wrapped around noon and went our separate ways.

Having shot just one roll of film and carrying two other loaded cameras with me, I still had the urge to explore some more and look for opportunities to shoot for myself. Instead curiosity struck me and I had to check out a small retail community brewing up on Adams Blvd. West of Fairfax, Adams Gateway.

Adams Gateway is a brilliant, guerrilla type urban retail intervention in shipping containers which has the potential to revive, or jump start the soul of the West Adams community by bringing together new and potential residents as well as deep rooted families that have lived in the area for decades by offering cool shops with local crafts, a soon to arrive coffee truck, vintage goods, amazing and funky music at Dig It Vinyl and locally designed wicked clothing for those with a rockabilly attitude at Superiority Complex. I myself can't wait to get my WA T-Shirt from Tastemaking , they didn't have my size today :(. I think it is going to be the I ♥ NY of Mid City. Oh! And here's the best bit; ORGANIC vegetables at DO. Yes, I said "organic". And it is right next to J n J's Burger Shack / BBQ, a neighborhood staple serving BBQ ribs, Pork Belly sandwiches and burgers.

Don't get me wrong, I still cringe at the idea of gentrification, but what I think that I'm witnessing here is perhaps the best example or urban sensibility to the existing community and growth while addressing need; and it is happening from within, promoting residents, and local crafts before corporate sterility. 

 


DOCUMENT: West Adams_20150719

I have been living in this area for about 3 years. Already I've been noticing some changes. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but about 10 years ago the thought occurred to me: "people can't keep coming to Los Angeles and commute in from a continually expanding periphery. They'll eventually have to come back in."

So, according to Anthony Bourdain gentrification goes something like this. In a neighborhood were mostly immigrants and low income families live, and were rents are usually lower than average,  first come the craftsmen and artists followed by the hipsters. Then a handful of galleries and coffee shops open. After that, the middle class is attracted to the area by it's artsy, eclectic feel (just look up Echo Park and Silver Lake), and the rents skyrocket, leaving people that have been living in these areas for generations no choice than to move out. It all culminates with a quick one-two punch, a banh mi / cup cake shop combo open up next to each other followed by a deadly body blow of a Whole Foods (check out Lincoln/Rose in Venice CA). 

I've known people who lived in this area way longer than myself, so by no means do I consider myself a trailblazer. I'm also neither a an artist, nor consider myself a hipster. I have no tattoos and wearing "product" on my hair doesn't really help that much.

 That said, in addition to the recent new businesses like Delicious Pizza / Delicious Vinyl, the art gallery across the street and the fact that I recently saw a white girl with blue hair walking a poodle and a man mowing the lawn with an electric lawnmower, I'll say West Adams is somewhere between stage 2 and Stage 3 of this transformation. I believe the crucial surge will occur when the Expo Line hits the Ocean in a couple of years.

My intention is to capture the minute details of this transformation of West Adams Blvd. between La Cienaga and Crenshaw Blvds. with emphasis between Crenshaw and La Brea for as long as I live in the area. 

Some of the following posts will include photos taken in the past 3 years along with current ones.