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A Message From The Walk Leader

Hello Fellow Photographer,

How would you choose to capture the essence of a city as vast and as complicated as Los Angeles? Where would you begin to photograph the many nuances of the most filmed city in the world?

While we rediscover the beginnings of Los Angeles within its downtown persona, we will attempt to capture the unique expression that is downtown “L.A.”. There are 7 subregions that comprise the downtown landscape. From north to south they are Chinatown/Pueblo, Civic Center/Little Tokyo, New Downtown, Historic Core, Skid Row/Wholesale District, Fashion District, and South Park. In our Photowalk, we will concentrate our focus on the Historic Core of downtown Los Angeles. There is a reason that Los Angeles is the most filmed city in the world and we may even spot a crew filming the latest blockbuster showing at a theater near you.

To the surprise of many urban experts and millions of suburban residents of Los Angeles — who view sprawling Los Angeles as “100 suburbs in search of a city” — there always has been a significant downtown Los Angeles, even before the new skyscrapers began sprouting in the 1960s. Ironically, much of the built environment of the old commercial downtown was not destroyed by new development, mainly because most new projects were located to the west and northwest of the old “historic core.” Today, dozens of blocks and hundreds of buildings (most of which are exactly 150 feet tall) in this subregion look essentially the same as they did in the 1930s.

http://college.usc.edu/geography/la_walking_tour/

We will begin out photographic journey at Pershing Square across the street from the famous Biltmore Hotel. There is a long bright yellow building on the north corner of Pershing Square. Then we will travel north on Hill Street to the Hotel Clark, then continue north on Hill Street to the Grand Central market which lies across from Angels Flight. This will make a great place to get some food and drink after the photo walk but they close at 6pm. We will make a right on Third Street and proceed east to the Bradbury Building on the corner of Broadway and Third Street. We will continue south on Broadway taking photographs as the opportunities present themselves. There are many vintage theaters near 8th Street on Broadway well worth photographing. We will end the Photowalk where we began, at Pershing Square.

PARKING:

You can park at Pershing Square but it is pricey, even on a Saturday. It is underground parking but it’s your choice. Directly north of the meeting place is another parking lot with a flat $5 rate for the entire day and that’s where I will park. There is another lot with the same price east of Pershing Square. There is also street parking but it is very limited and you must pay close attention to the posted signs. Below is a link to photographs of the meeting location.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/asphalt/sets/72157620153022823/

SUPPLIES:

Bring comfortable shoes, water, some snacks, some money for food if you like, your camera of choice with needed accessories (Film, memory cards, etc) and you eye for the photograph.

I will be there to offer some technical help as well as some compositional assistance but this is not a photography class. You have no assignments due except to have fun and deepen your love for the photographic medium. I will not tell you what to shoot. You will be the artistic director of your photo shoot; I am simply a local guide. I look forward to meeting you all.

William

8-1-2009

The winner of the Downtown Los Angeles Historic Core Worldwide Photowalk has been selected and uploaded to the main Photowalk page. Please go there to view the selection. The selection process was very difficult as there were so many great images to choose from. Thank you for your amazing eyes and creative spirits.

William