A Face In The Crowd

Outsize portraits adorn buildings all over booming downtown Los Angeles. The murals are funny and creepy at the same time. Is it a big brother thing or somebody's warped sense of humor?

My take on LA's gritty city center has been that it isn't a real downtown and that the City of Angels can't join the pantheon of great cities until it has one. My premise is that to be a "real" downtown people have to live there and it has to be abuzz with action day and night. Manhattan? You bet. Chicago? Damn straight. San Francisco? I left my heart there when I was six. Boston? They don't call it "The Hub" for nothing.

Downtown LA has been a dud until recently but is exploding with new construction. Yet it struggles with livability in my view. All growth can't be vertical. More green space would seem essential especially in Southern California where folks live outdoors. Lofts alone aren't going to cut it. City fathers and profiteers alike should get a clue.

Rhythm and Flow

We got to Point Reyes Light fifteen minutes too late to walk the 308 steps down to lighthouse itself. The gate is locked at 4:30pm. Undaunted, we scoured the area for suitable subjects and these receding pickets captured my eye. The shallow depth of field fore and aft was just the ticket.

Treasures within Treasures

When visiting our magnificent national parks it’s hard not to settle for traditional landscape photographs of the epic kind. Certainly, Grand Canyon National Park north or south compels us to capture its vast beauty. Not frequently enough I will take the time, look more closely and discover a more intimate jewel like the Cliff Rose (or so I believe) depicted here. And, after all, I am a card carrying gnarly tree fan. That the Cliff Rose may be a shrub doesn't diminish the point being made. To wit, dig a little deeper. There's good stuff lurking beneath the obvious.

I've rendered this image high key to focus attention on the intricate subject. I've blown out the background so that nothing competes with the twisted Cowderia Mexicana. In the original capture the mesas beyond are visible.

Below is the image from which this came.

Nice comparison, what?

No sitting on horse without permission. Look for horsemen.

During my recent driving trip with my son, Garrett, one that took us through Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and Canyonlands we realized that way more than half of the voices we heard were from foreign shores. And my best guess is that this aspiring John Wayne hailed from eastern Europe. I going with Kazakhstan because I like the way it looks in print.

Posing as the Duke on a Navajo pony in John Ford country is an assiduously controlled endeavor as you can plainly see. It’ll cost you five buckaroonies for the privilege. Or for you, my young Tselmeg, that'll be 1,704.984 Tenges.

Canyon Glow

On a Wednesday night we arrived at the east entrance to Grand Canyon National Park just as the sun was falling below the canyon rim. The ranger warned us, “You’re about to miss the sunset. You’ve get about five minutes. Desert View Tower is half a mile on your right. Hurry and you might make it.”

We sped to the parking lot and literally ran to a spot to the right of the watch tower. The brilliant orb was falling fast. But not too fast for these.

Just because

The church in Coyote, New Mexico

No name mesa on the way to Monument Valley.

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I left Taos Wednesday mid-morning with my son Garrett and by the time we got to LA Friday evening we’d seen parts of the Navajo Nation, Monument Valley, Lake Powell and the south rim of the Grand Canyon. At 11 tonight (Sunday) we drug our sorry butts home from the Emmys and I am dragging like a sod farmer in the Dust Bowl. This one is as perfunctory as I've ever done. Doing it 'cause I can't miss a post after something like 550 and counting 

The Immels at Immel + Immel: Our New Mexico

Saturday night our Immel + Immel extravaganza opened at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art here in Taos. I’m pleased to say we enjoyed a big turnout, especially for a Labor Day weekend with about a thousand competing events. Big thanks to Rob Nightingale for mounting such a handsome show and even bigger thanks to all the collectors, fellow artists and friends who made the opening so special.

A special call-out to out my dear friend, the photographer Daryl Black, for being our designated paparazza. Didn’t expect it, Daryl, but it sure was appreciated. Photo up top of Peggy and Steve courtesy of Ms. Black.

There's still time to catch the exhibition. It's up till September 17.