The Fifth Beatle in Los Angeles, CA, USA
One thing I love about LA is the street art that pops up around various neighborhoods and landmarks. It’s often fleeting so you need to stop for a moment and appreciate it while it lasts. In this case, I took this photograph a few months ago but the murals are long gone. When I saw this particular Beatles mural it struck me as something familiar and yet I also had the feeling that I’d never seen this particular photo of them. I couldn’t be sure. I only knew only that I wanted to photograph it. So I invited a few people for an impromptu shoot. Three people showed up, one being this guy– Ricky Faust– who, I swear, looked like he could have been the 5th Beatle (I wish you could see more of his face here). I tossed him a bandanna and this was one of the first shots I took. He was perfect.
Place you live: West Hollywood, CA
Place your photo was taken: Los Angeles, corner of La Brea & Romaine
Can you sum up LA? City of dreams, harsh realities, golden sunshine, the occasional rainstorm (as the song says, it never rains but when it does it POURS), better food than most people think, colorful streets, more history than people give it credit for, and dingbats (architecturally speaking). Lots of dingbats.
Occupation: Emerging editorial and commercial photographer
Preoccupation: I’m ‘preoccupied’ by many things but before I was a professional photographer I was a magazine editor-in-chief working in sports publishing.
A perfect day in LA? Breakfast at Susan Feniger’s Street (Kaya Toast!) and then an urban hike that may or may not involve foraging from other people’s fruit trees, shopping for albums at Counterpoint or Record Surplus, another meal lunch at CUBE on La Brea and maybe a movie at the Arclight in Hollywood.
If someone was visiting, what must they do? WALK. Believe it or not there’s tons of good walking in LA, namely all the “Secret Stairs” hikes throughout Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silverlake.
What is the best thing about your spot? People watching, good food, music and other entertainment when you want it, all my creative friends who are trying to achieve big things.
What is the worst? The indecipherable parking signs.
A little known fact about where you live? The concrete in our city hall tower was made with sand from each of California’s 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions. They definitely don’t make them like they used to! My grandfather, who was a masonry worker, actually worked on city hall.
Where is your favorite place in the world? I’d really love to make it back to New Zealand. That and Henderson Harbor, NY, where my mom grew up. Summers are the best there.