FREE LA: 'The Elevated Eye' Photography Exhibit at Forest Lawn

Glendale's Forest Lawn Museum is back with a new exhibit that is definitely worth checking out: "The Elevated Eye" features photography of cityscapes, landmarks, the earth and more as taken by planes, drones, spaceships and other aerial means. The photos span centuries, and include some classic overhead shots of Los Angeles.

As always, the Forest Lawn Museum is free, and a unique stop, located high up on a hill, allowing for great views of downtown Glendale.



More info:

The exhibition examines the history of aerial photography, from its origins in the nineteenth century to the boundary-pushing technologies of the twenty-first century. It assembles nearly 150 images and 14 minutes of video, as well as satellite models and drones. The exhibition includes photographs from Forest Lawn Museum’s permanent collection that have never been displayed as well as works from the Getty Research Institute; Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens; and the Special Collections of Los Angeles Public Library. The Elevated Eye: Aerial Photography Past and Present also features the work of David Maisel, a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow in the Creative Arts; Jenny Odell, a multi-disciplinary artist and writer; and photographer Lane Barden, whose work traces major corridors of Los Angeles from above. The exhibition includes more than twenty images and mesmerizing video footage by the drone pilot and photographer Chen Ming. Moving beyond the stratosphere, The Elevated Eye features historical images from NASA as well as the work of Erwan Rivault (@earthfromsatellites), a French geographer who uses data from European Space Agency satellites to create stunning images of natural wonders on the Earth’s surface.

"The Elevated Eye: Aerial Photography Past and Present" will be open to the public from October 10, 2019 through March 8, 2020 at Forest Lawn Museum, Forest Lawn-Glendale, 1712 S. Glendale Avenue.

Free L.A.: National Geographic Women of Vision Exhibit at Forest Lawn Glendale

I've written before about how the Forest Lawn Glendale museum is one of the city's great secrets: A free museum exhibit that rotates a few times of year, always offering something unique. The best part: It's free. And even beyond the exhibit inside the museum, the views from the top of Forest Lawn Glendale are great as well.

The latest exhibit, "National Geographic Women of Vision," features stunning photography from around the world, as shot by some of the magazine's most celebrated female photographers.

Here are some details from the site: "Featuring nearly 100 photographs, Women of Vision includes moving depictions of far-flung cultures; compelling illustrations of conceptual topics, such as memory and teenage brain chemistry; and arresting images of social issues, such as child marriage and twenty-first-century slavery. In addition, the exhibition demonstrates how National Geographic magazine picture editors work closely with the photographers to select images and tell stories. Video vignettes present first-person accounts that reveal the photographers’ individual styles, passions, and approaches to their craft."

"Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment" will be open to the public from December 11, 2018 through April 7, 2019 at the Forest Lawn Museum, Forest Lawn-Glendale, 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale.

29Rooms Returns to Los Angeles With a Message of Empowerment — And Instagram-Friendly Displays Too

Refinery29's "29Rooms" showcase was back in Los Angeles this weekend for another run, with 29 new rooms that are a mix of art, play, message, and marketing. It's truly made for the Instagram age. Thanks to an invite from Refinery29, Maria and I dropped by the Reef in downtown Los Angeles to check it out. Phones in hand, naturally. 

The first installation we saw (and waited in line to experience) was an underwater world designed by Kesha.

Here's how the current tour is described: "The new #ExpandYourReality tour is the break you need from our fast-paced, digital world and dissonant political climate. Travel blindfolded through a multi-sensory ASMR tunnel, dance it out with performers in a reimagined nightclub, write an intimate letter to your inner child and work side by side with Artists in a dedicated studio space. Come ready to explore as you “choose-your-own-adventure” in this ever-changing dreamscape of modern art and experiential design." (We didn't do all of those things, given the lines.)

Some of the messages of female empowerment, voter rights, and more, were well received.

The ACLU reminded us that we should "know your rights."

"Love Letter to the World"

"Artist in Residence"

"Pay women." Yes.

"Money Mantras"

Our favorite display of the night was probably this one: "A Long Line of Queendom," by Unbothered. 

In this room, people were invited to write a note to their "inner self."

Pop-up performances included one by inclusive dance company Infinite Flow.

Other collaborators included Lena Waithe.

VIDEO/PICS: This Year's Best Takes on the Great Los Angeles Walk, By The People Who Walked It

Thanks to MsGeek703, who took part in the first half of this year's Great Los Angeles Walk on November 17. She shot this video of her experience.

ICYMI, you can read our recap of the seventh annual Great Los Angeles Walk here. But here are a few more recaps of our wet, wonderful day hiking 17 miles from downtown to the ocean, via Melrose:

I couldn't have explained the walk better than Mikki Brisk does in this wonderful post. A first-time GLAW-er, she writes:



A day like that is hard to explain. I guess it takes a bit of crazy to even agree to such a walk. Not everyone understands it or accepts it (“What do you mean it’s not for charity?”). Some people were deterred by the rain. Some people caught a bus to the endpoint. Some people caught rides. Some just hit their max and went home.

That’s all okay. But for me, I needed to do this for no other reason than to prove to myself that I could. There’s no reward in completing a trek like this. There’s no fanfare or to-do. One doesn’t get any special letters after her name for walking the entire 17 miles.

But there is a sense of accomplishment. There is the joy of camaraderie. There is the beauty of the city.

And yes, there is pride. As I sat at the bar at the end of the day and looked around, I was proud of everyone there (including myself). I was so pleased to have spent the day with women I adore. I was glad to have met a cool chick who was willing to maintain a crazy pace for the second half of the route. I was, in short, happy.

Blogger Nick Campbell wrote the other amazing post I read about this year's Walk; check it out here. Having recently moved into a downtown loft, Nick was excited to be so conveniently situated to this year's starting point, the Walt Disney Concert Hall. He also had Scoops ice cream on the brain. An excerpt:



We met up with the rest of the people on the steps of the Hall just after nine to see more people than I remember ever seeing. The requisite human interest reporter was there (not surprising given the event exists in the dearth of non-turkey-related activities the week before Thanksgiving and that the person who started the event, Michael Schneider, is, himself, press) and I saw a lot of the same people I’d seen the past two years: mostly active seniors, some middle-aged Angelenos involved in the community, and a few young people who are both. But this year there were a lot more of everyone. It was surprising and nice. This is an event I really love and get excited about every year. That being said, I’d already picked out some of the people that wouldn’t make it. Sorry, ma’am. Your dog is not going to want to walk 17 miles.

City Council candidate Elson Trinidad (who's running for the CD13 seat) walked part of the route amd wrote this recap. An excerpt:



People were fascinated to see even the most mundane things like holes in the windows in a DWP storage building along 1st Street, visually stunning murals like Eliso Art Silva’s Filipino American history mural, the “Twilight Zone” mural on Beverly and a Cache/Eye One “bicycling chickens” mural across the street from it. The walk also exposed the bad and the ugly, such as the blighted trash heaps and urine-stenched pavement under the 101 Freeway above Melrose, a reminder that there’s much work to do in the community.

Still, my 5.3-mile trek from Downtown to Hollywood enabled me to socialize, enjoy the city, see some things I’ve never seen before (such as the Jack London house off of Van Ness), see things I wish we didn’t have to see, and get to the places I needed to go that day.

Many Angelenos unfortunately have a hindrance to walking, which is purely psychological and socially-reinforced. But once freed from those shackles, walking lends to a wonderful world of discovery and exercise (it’s great for the blood pressure). Other hindrances, like uneven pavement and inconveniently narrow sidewalks (Melrose between Normandie and Serrano, I’m looking at you), are things the City needs to address.

But “Nobody Walks In L.A.” is already an outdated diatribe. Some of our streets and neighborhoods are getting more pedestrian-friendly, either through design or demand. A walkable Los Angeles is a must for our City’s future.

Great LA Walk-er Ron took some beautiful black-and-white photos of this year's Walk, check 'em out here.

Check out Great LA Walk-er Jonathan's pics here.

Check out all the Great Los Angeles Walk photos uploaded to Flickr here.

The Obligatory Cheesy "Levitated Mass" Photo at LACMA

C'mon, admit it: The first time you saw Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass at LACMA, you took the same photo.

L.A.'s Priceless Photo Chronicles

Great piece in Tuesday's L.A. Times by Larry Harnisch about an unsung L.A. hero: Photographer C.C. Pierce, whose amazing shots of Los Angeles showcase our city as it grew from a sleepy, dusty 1800s village to a metropolis just a few years later.

The Huntington Library purchased Pierce's collection before he died. And thank goodness -- the collection is now prized by historians. Larry writes:

With each click of his camera shutter, Pierce captured a mesmerizing split second of history as Los Angeles changed before his eyes. His work is an unsurpassed visual record of the city's commercial blocks and street corner businesses; mansions and rose-covered cottages; parades and fiestas. It remains the Huntington's most heavily used collection.

"How amazing to be there in the 19th century, to stand on Bunker Hill and see to the San Gabriel Mountains, with the savannas of oaks and no structures or just some very small buildings," says Jennifer Watts, the curator of photographs at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

Pierce's well-organized archive is so comprehensive that it is nearly impossible to pick up a book or magazine article on early Los Angeles without seeing one of his photos.

Pierce first moved to L.A. from Chicago in 1886 at the age of 25, and died in 1846 at the age of 84.

On Pacific Standard Time: MOCA Gets "Naked" With Weegee

Weegee -- real name Arthur Fellig -- first made his name in the 1930s and 1940s as a New York photojournalist covering the city's seedy underbelly. His book of photos, "Naked City," was released in 1945 and later became the inspiration for the motion picture "The Naked City." In 1947, he moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at Hollywood.

Instead of crime, Weegee began poking holes into the Hollywood fairy tale -- juxtaposing the glitz and glamour of the movie biz with the harder realities of life among regular folks in L.A. He also chronicled the fans who worshipped celebrity and used a special distortion lens to play around with how Hollywood stars looked. His 1953 book "Naked Hollywood," a sequel of sorts to "Naked City," collected those photos. A minor celebrity thanks to his successful photography work, Weegee also made small appearances in several films and worked as a photographer for Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."



As part of the Pacific Standard Time exposition, the Museum of Contemporary Art is showcasing what it says is the first exhibit dedicated to Weegee's Hollywood photos (including many never before seen). "Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles" continues at MOCA through the end of February.

We visited MOCA this weekend (yes, we took advantage of the free admission, as part of this weekend's Museum Free-for-All) and I could have spent hours combing through all of the Weegee pics. For fans of old L.A. like myself, it's a must. (One quibble, of course: There's some irony that photography was forbidden in an exhibit about photography.)

More pics:


Shot of Weegee and collaborator Mel Harris combing through hundreds of photos for "Naked Hollywood."


Weegee's suitcase


Elsewhere inside MOCA: Strings overhead spell out "PICKLE."


Also on display: "Kenneth Anger ICONS," which explores the experimental filmmaker's work and collection.


From one of the walls devoted to "Kenneth Anger ICONS."

What's With the Nude Paparazzo in the L.A. Times?

Here's a cache of the L.A. Times Ministry of Gossip blog post (since taken down) featuring Jennifer Aniston... and a naked photographer in the background. And here's what it looks like now, with replacement photo.

WHAT. My pals over at Newsweek/The Daily Beast -- Kate Aurthur, Jace Lacob and Maria Elena Fernandez -- had a field day with this pic this afternoon, and their litany of tweets were likely what led to the Ministry of Gossip taking the pic down. (Read Jace's take here.)

Turns out it's not a new occurrence. The New York Post identifies the photographer as Holly Van Voast, who frequently does this naked-photographer-on-the-street thing as a bit of performance art. But clearly someone at Getty Images, which took this photo, didn't examine it closely before sending it out... and sites like the LAT didn't notice Van Voast either. Strange stuff.

La Placita, Circa 1875

How cool is this: From the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery, a pic of Iglesia Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles -- Our Lady Queen of Angels church. Now popularly known as "La Placita," it's the church where Maria and I got married in 2002.

(Pic via LAhistory's Twitter feed.)

Downtown L.A. and Beyond: A Photo Essay, Part 2

More pics from a recent afternoon driving around Downtown -- including this shot of the Orpheum (above) -- taken from the back.


"Brown-Israel Clothing Company: CLOTHES ON CREDIT."


Fashion district crosswalk


Outside the California Market Center


Skullphone makes it to the East Side -- yes, the *real* East Side.


Tower Theatre


Come for the Hofbrau, stay for the Topless Dancers!


Fine's Foods


The several faces of Sears


Sears Retail Store -- original entrance