My search for inspiration...

Over the holiday break I decided to make a commitment to attend the Iris Night Lecture series at the Annenberg Space for Photography...in Century City. They're every Thursday night and the tickets (which are free) go on "sale" every Wednesday at noon. It has been a very mixed bag so far.

On the plus side there's the location...it's behind the Creative Artist's Agency building, which is kinda cool. There must be some government offices there as well, because a few weeks ago there was a ton of very clean-shaven guys in black suits and sunglasses (no lie) speaking into their sleeves. A visit by Joe Biden prompted that one. Other pluses are: it's free, the people running the place are very friendly, you get to meet a bunch of photographers - and where else can you park in Century City for a buck?

So, what's my problem? Maybe the subject (the Digital Darkroom) of the current series is bringing out an emphasis on technique - but many of the lectures have left me wondering if anyone thinks about content anymore. One photographer was very inspiring for the first 5 minutes, then it started to repeat itself in a strange loop on how everyone's an artist and that "art" is just the expression of a burst of creativity. I'm sorry, but that's not really true. Perhaps everyone's an artist, but not everything we do is art. Art (with the capital A) is not just about creativity - I should know - I'm creative as hell, but most of the time I fully understand I'm not making Art. At the end of the pep-talk, he then just talked about his technique...

So, I'm not finding true inspiration yet, but maybe next week?

A gallery returns to education

Last night I attended the opening of the Long Beach City College Art Gallery. We had lost the gallery last year in one of the seemingly endless rounds of cuts to education. It was hard for the school to both justify and understand the importance of the gallery to our Art Program - but (with the help of many behind the scenes) we were able to negotiate its return.

There was an interesting air of hope and excitement last night and I watched the students crowd the space to see the work. Our returning curator, Habib Kheradyar, started with a faculty show, this image is actually as the crowd was starting to thin. Habib is both an artist and the founder of Post "a subversive venue for contemporary art" in Los Angeles and we're very fortunate to have him back. You can follow the gallery on Facebook.

What I've learned is that, for a gallery (and maybe art) to survive, it's important to find ways to make everyone care about it - not just the artists involved. It seems like so much of art is about exclusion, you often have to know about art just to understand what you're looking at - and I have no problem with that - but it occurs to me that the flip side is a public that does not value art or its institutions. So, my goal is to create a stronger culture of art at LBCC and to find ways to make the gallery valuable to the entire school.

The following image is from an installation that's behind the far wall you see in the above image. This work is by Gretchen Potts, one of our faculty members. I was so taken by the quality of the light she created. I'd love to see this on an even larger scale.

Saint Monica

Out at Palisades Park this morning to visit Saint Monica's statue - turns out that's where Santa Monica get's its name. I'm shooting this location for my Multiple Viewings series - I grew up in Westwood and my mother, who was studying art at UCLA, spent a lot of time painting on the pier. The best part of being a kid was the freedom I had to explore and my travels would range from under the pier to the pathways leading back up to the park.

It was cold this morning, had to go get coffee and warm my fingers up before I could shoot (with the real camera...).

Park Manor Hotel Part 2

One of the interesting elements at the Park Manor is its relationship to the gay and lesbian community. On the bottom floor there's a great restaurant with a fabulous lounge singer and I believe Fridays are "fun" night at the roof-top club - with a "elevatrix" running the elevator - it's a very energized scene. So how will this fit with the conservative time-share company that's bought it...who knows?

The Park Manor Hotel, San Diego - Part 1

A year ago, I attended the Society for Photographic Education's Western Conference in San Diego. We ended up staying at the Park Manor Hotel - which strangely enough was designed by Bertram Goodhue - who also was the original architect of Val Verde - small world. I loved the "old world" qualities of the hotel so much that we stayed here again last summer. Much to my dismay, I found that the Hotel has been sold and is in the process of being turned into a timeshare. Renovations are happening as we speak. So, in a last attempt to remember what was, I've done a small photo-essay on a unique landmark of gracious living.

Just off of San Diego is an island called Coronado, where the famous hotel is (more to come) and I stumbled on this great example of "house proud" - few photographers can resist a sunflower and that includes me.

This weekend we drove from the foothills to the ocean - Pasadena to Long Beach - by surface streets. Occasionally, when I can't take the traffic anymore, I bail on my work commute and end up on the streets of Downey, South Gate, Huntington Park, Compton and Highland Park to name just a few of the communities along the 710 and 5 fwys. The problem on those days is that I'm beat to the core and just want to get home, but I do pay attention and mark locations I want to return to, sometimes to sample the food, sometimes because of the signage...

Vintage trailering is a bit of an addiction - for some it's a lifestyle, for others it's an excuse to buy back their childhood. It's open to all and for a few weekends a year it's a chance to slow down and step out of the ordinary.

Domesticity and the art of everyday objects