I hadn’t been out shooting with other people in a while. I generally prefer to be on my own, but sometimes a group setting draws out different things and gets me into new situations. The Los Angles Flickr group hasn’t been floating events that fit my interest and/or schedule, so I decided to give Meetup a shot.

I’d gone on an outing earlier in the year with the L.A. Street Photography group, but since it was a trip to Edwards Air Force Base and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, it didn’t really count as “street photography”. This time, the destination was downtown Los Angeles, to include the Mission district/Skid Row and the garment and jewelry districts, with a black-and-white theme. A half-dozen guys showed up, toting a mix of film and digital rigs. I  toted the AE-1, Mat-24G and Sprocket Rocket. The Yashica drew many comments from passers-by.

We managed to hike from 3rd and Hill through Pershing Square, the aforementioned districts and Skid Row. I didn’t feel comfortable making images in the latter – the scene was pretty hostile – but got a few in the other areas. We ended up in Little Tokyo as the air was cooling, and took a break near the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. They’re hosting “Art in the Streets“, a massive exhibition of street art from many generations and from all over the world.

The entrance to the show was framed by a Levi’s-sponsored film-making exhibit, and guarded by a bunch of energetic and chatty USC film school students. We wandered in to look around. The Yashica again spurred conversation, and after some talk about the state of film photography and the evils of 3-D cinema (one lad mistook the TLR for some sort of 3-D apparatus), I was waved into the larger space sans admission fee. I’ve quietly admired street art and graffiti for years, and the variety and quality on display really was mind-blowing. Equally impressive was the historical background information on the artists and pieces. It made for a great ending to the day.

A gallery patron views my work.

Went out on the evening of the 26th into the deserted streets of Pomona’s Arts Colony district to see the monthly “Last Saturday’s Local Photography Exhibit” show at Silence Gallery. It’s the first time (outside of Flickr) that I’ve shown anything publicly, and the first time I’ve ever bothered to properly mat and frame pieces.

It was cool to to have something up, though I admit it felt odd to see them there in such an “official” way. They were among a group of works by really good photographers, and I was proud to have been included. A new goal is to get more out there, and more often.

Bombay Husks

On December 26th, a couple of my photos will be included in a gallery show at Silence Gallery in Pomona. It’s a cool little space dedicated to themes of urban scenery, street photography and decay.

It’ll be my first chance to put framed prints of things I’ve done up and walls and see people react to them. I’m excited and nervous too, but I have to start sometime. Let the printing, matting and framing commence.