Recently I came across a crime scene in Hollywood where a homeless man had been killed in an alley behind a strip mall. According to a fireman who was there to assist with the trauma scene clean-up, the man had been asleep when a sanitation truck accidentally ran over him, crushing his skull.
Without crossing the police tape I was able to photograph the entire crime scene from the public sidewalk, Barnsdall Park (which is a public park) and parts of the strip mall parking lot that had not been taped off. However, on two occasions I was confronted by LAPD for photographing the crime scene.
We finally made it to the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City this week. Just a week old, the Space’s mission is to be a community center that showcases both digital and print photography — a sort of heavenly high-tech hang-out for fans of the art form.
The venue itself is sleek: all clean lines and modern design, with fresh white flowers in vases and multiple flat screens relaying image after striking image. The current exhibit is called L8S ANG3LES, and it features the work of 11 photographers with varying styles: John Baldessari, Julius Shulman, Tim Street-Porter, Douglas Kirkland, Greg Gorman, Lauren Greenfield, Catherine Opie, Carolyn Cole, Lawrence Ho, Kirk McKoy and Genaro Molina.
Eleven photographers is a lot for the amount of space they have, and there wasn’t really enough of each photographer to give you a decent overview, or even introduction, though there were multiple videos running that offered more of each photographer’s work. We particularly liked Julius Shulman (awesome California architecture), Douglas Kirkland (amazing celebrity portraits) Genaro Molina (never heard of him but want to know more), Catherine Opie (though not the best representation of her work on display) and Carolyn Cole (powerful war/strife photography). (Lauren Greenfield? Still don’t get her.)
In the back there is a kitchen (presumably for parties) and a reference room with cool magazines and rare photography books (Helen Levitt, War by the VII agency and Falkland Roadby Mary Ellen Mark to name just a few), with a table where you can just sit down and read for hours if you wish. They’ll also be offering a regular lecture series and workshops (most of the current exhibit’s stars are coming to speak, including Douglas Kirkland and Carolyn Cole).
The location I have to say is not ideal, and one wonders why they chose a site that is nestled so deep within a corporate compound that’s anchored by CAA. The main drawback is the parking situation and the maze-like process you go through to find the Space. It’s not one of those places where if you have an hour to kill you’ll just drop by. It’ll probably take you half that time to park and find the place. But, alas — such is the price to pay for great, free photography.
A note about photography on the premises since there was a report recently about the overzealous CAA security guards harassing people: They don’t allow photography inside the Space, however you can take exterior shots and bring your camera inside with you. I was able to sneak the shot above, but I was politely asked not to take any in the area with the photography.
With this post, we diverge from our central theme of photography and photographers’ rights to just peoples’ rights — that is to say, our rights as people to have our tax dollars well-spent and our city employees follow the very laws they enforce.
Case in point: this video, taken this past week in East Hollywood, where our dogged local parking enforcement officer uses the loading zone as a parking spot for her lunch break. This is the same parking officer who tirelessly drives up and down our neighborhood blocks all day long, looking for cars on the wrong side of the street on street cleaning days and in red zones and with expired meters.
Somewhere we missed it in the Los Angeles city code where parking enforcement officers don’t need to obey the law. Wow, what a job perk! If someone has a copy of that, please send it our way.
944 Magazine and the UnScene Photography Tour are sponsoring a photo contest of “untold Los Angeles stories – people, places or things.” The five lucky winners will show their work at a gallery event in March, and the winner will be announced at the end of the night. Details can be found here.
On January 18, NPRO members went to the US Bank Tower in Downtown Los Angeles to protest against their security staff’s illegal treatment of photographers when photographing the property from a public sidewalk.
Over the next couple of days, more video and photos will be posted, showing what happened, along with contact info for the building’s management staff.
In the the meantime, here is the building’s address and phone number. Please contact them after listening to the audio and reading the transcript to voice your concerns.
US Bank Tower
633 W 5th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 615-6300
Below is a transcript of what happened between NPRO members and the US Bank Tower’s security staff on January 18, 2009.
———————————————————
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: Excuse me sir, you’re not allowed to take any pictures.
NOHO DAMON: We’re both on a public sidewalk here.
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: No actually this sidewalk is private.
NOHO DAMON: No, no, no, no…(inaudible)
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: No.
NOHO DAMON: This is a public sidewalk.
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: Right…no.
NOHO DAMON: You guys own the street?
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: That’s the public, this is private.
NOHO DAMON: You’re telling me you own the street, you’re telling me you own the sidewalk.
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: Yes sir.
NOHO DAMON: You’re telling me that.
US BANK SECURITY GUARD: Yes.
NOHO DAMON: Would you be willing to discuss that with a cop?
Today, LA Weekly’s LA Daily blog has the account of Anthony Citrano, a Venice photographer who learned over the weekend that taking photos of the Pacific Park within the Santa Monica Pier, one of LA’s most popular and recognizable attractions, was not allowed.
The story is ridiculous and typical – employees try to enforce their company’s nebulous “policy” with various rules and excuses, ultimately giving up when they’re challenged and realize they don’t have a leg to stand on.
First, Citrano was told by Pacific Park staff that photos of families are okay, just not “random images.” Then people were okay, but not “things.” Then he was told the park was private property, even though it’s on public land and there are no signs posted to that effect. Then it was that he couldn’t commercially profit from the photos. And finally, an employee told him that that his equipment was so professional looking that it was understandable he was stopped.
All of which, it goes without saying, aren’t valid reasons for prohibiting a photographer. The odd thing is, these park employees never claimed it was a security issue, so that wasn’t even their concern. Their issue, it seems, is with general photography.
But it’s a huge tourist destination, packed with thousands of people every day, nearly all of them wielding cameras. It seems futile, not to mention outrageous and, lastly, bad business, to start enforcing a no photography policy among certain photographers. Can you imagine the work that will take to identify and reprimand photographers they think are shooting just “random things”? What does the employee manual look like for that rule?
As Citrano told the LA Daily: “The first guy was used to not being challenged on the issue and was confused by my questions about policy. Look, These guys are two steps from wearing Batman underwear.”
Citrano has approached the City of Santa Monica for more information on this policy.
Keeping in line with last year’s resolution to procrastinate more, and seeing that we’re already two days into ’09, I’ve finally mustered up the initiative to post my favorite image of 2008.
During the past year I found myself in the middle of all kinds of unforgettable situations, ranging from the most intense protests to the secret sex room of a transvestite hooker.
I lost friends/subjects that I loved dearly to their alcohol and drug addictions, while others decided to move away in order to escape the grind of Hollywood, leaving me hollowed out, deflated, and questioning my intentions. For weeks I would go without shooting anything, asking myself if what I was doing was serving any kind of purpose.
But as the weeks passed and the dust settled on my camera, that indescribable thing inside of every passionate photographer crept quietly back and I found myself with old friends, photographing them again, as if no time had passed.
For the most part, I consider myself a documentary photographer rather than a street photographer. It’s something I’m quite proud of, and hold the material up to a much higher standard than the street work I have done.
Now I do realize my documentary subjects’ photos are on my website and flickr, but they are meant to hang in a gallery somewhere and they definitely deserve better than some blog posting, proclaiming they’re my favorite image of ’08. So that is why I chose a “street” shot for my favorite image of the year.
It’s an image, as well as a moment, that has been ingrained in my mind and will remain for many more new years to come.
As for my new year’s resolution, I’ve chosen the path of most resolutionaries and have decided to trim the fat.
But not from me…from my flickr account.
Within the past week, the image tally has been reduced from 1036 to 754.
From a craigslist posting, it looks like a “celebrity agent and a socialite” in West Hollywood is looking for a paparazzi photographer to follow him around and “snap pictures of him in every possible oppurtunity.” While the ad is directed at “student/photographers/unemployed people,” it doesn’t sound like the criteria is too exacting because “all you need is a camera and the will to follow someone around for long periods of time.”
In this age of blogging, Twitter, texting, Robo-Calls, YouTube, Facebook and the myriad of other communication opportunities, it’s nice to know they’ll always be the people who do it the old fashioned way – throwing up posters and stickers, defacing walls, or just writing on whatever space is available.
Here, a selection of political statements from around Los Angeles.
If you’re a passionate and dedicated photographer with the intention of making photography more than just your weekend hobby, it’s almost certain that you have taken a class or two throughout your time shooting.
Held at Venice Arts in Venice, CA, the Social Impact Workshop is a brand new long-term documentary program run by acclaimed photojournalist and three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Jim Hubbard.
Meeting every other Saturday and ending in late February for a total of 12 classes, the workshop will use presentation, discussion, work sharing, and personal shooting to help students explore their chosen subjects more deeply. And with that, see the depth and quality of their work expand over the length of the class.
Other topics that will be covered include but are not limited to accessing subjects, ethical and legal considerations, and equipment selection. At the end of the workshop students will share their work with the public via an exhibit hosted by the Venice Arts Gallery.
With the combination of Jim’s expertise and an eclectic group of talented people (consisting of all skill levels and one child psychologist) to poke and prod for critiques and advice, there isn’t any doubt that each of us will learn something new and likely incorporate another photographer’s way of working into our own camera bag of tricks.
Photo by discarted
boywithgrenade.org 
