Oh LA you got me.....

I recently led a workshop titled "Lomography Tours LA", catchy huh? The premise was to take attendees to three major spots where LA was represented. This workshop was my idea so obviously I was hoping that it would be smooth sailing. I chose three locations that would be easily accessible on our metro system, and that would also be good points of interest. We ended up going to the tourist mecca Hollywood and Highland, Downtown LA, and Union Square. If you are from LA you would know that these are three very different places which I chose at random but when we actually got there I was so happy to see that I covered the spectrum of what LA consist of...

I often declare my hate for this city that I call home. I live in a neighborhood that is nice but still riddled with people with no real jobs that sit in front of cafe's to be seen, it is disturbing to say the least. I look at LA. I having worked in the heart of West Hollywood for many years and see the cliche's. The waiters that want to be actors, the Starbucks barista's that are screen writers, the gold digging fake breasted women with boyfriends that are three times their age. Granted all of this is pretty accurate, the cliche's are very little cliche's as much as they can be fact if you are in the right location. Still there is a lot of culture hidden behind places we tend to overlook.

   
    I tend to love the things that are not glossed over, bring me the dirty streets lined with taco trucks! This is the kind of stuff I feed off of. When I travel I don't only want to see the tourist attractions, I want to see where the locals go to eat, read, shop, etc. Now starting the trip at Hollywood and Highland I obviously covered the tourist attraction that is Hollywood Blvd. Our next stop was in the heart of Downtown LA, Pershing Square. People tend to look at Downtown LA and think it is either hipster or homeless ridden, both true statements. I look at Downtown LA and see a mixture of two very different places. All along Broadway you can see small discount stores owned mostly by Hispanic families. On the other side of that there are skyscrapers and old buildings with amazing architecture. Definitely not something to disregard! We went to Angel Knolls Plaza a place I frequent when I want to take in a good book, or maybe have a taco across the street. Walking into Downtown LA always makes me feel like I stepped into a different state and sometimes I really need that.