Mom & Pop

I always see this little "shop" on my  way to a work site and it just makes me think what exactly is being sold if anything at all. It has an address and they always have rusted bikes and mangled chairs outside. I believe they sell these items and I wonder how they keep their shop up and running with just these things...(Here is the bigger sized Flickr file which gives you a better look.)

I know that in East LA there is a small "party supply" store that looks beat up and their real purpose is to supply the neighborhood with some drugs.How do I know this? Well for one you can tell that a beat down shop like that can't possibly survive for many, many years. I also know this because the people who run the behind the scenes drug operations asked  someone  if they wanted to open up a bakery but their real objective would be selling drugs behind the scenes. The lady that was asked bakes and sells cakes in a little 2 bedroom house. She had such high demand but couldn't supply because she was lacking resources and tools.

Why would anyone want to partner up with such people? Well the local "vendors" would have paid for the costs of getting the bakery running. This sounds like an offer that can't be refused when someone has such high cake demand but cant supply because she doesn't have the tools for such big jobs. Luckily the lady didn't take the offer, we all know how things end when you get involved with drugs...

I am certain that there are many more examples of these type of stores all around Los Angeles and across the nation. It also makes me wonder how they get away with their accounting and taxes...Maybe we got dirty folks at the city, but of course that could never happen in this wonderful nation!

-Brian

Rot in Hell

There are many places around Los Angeles that are left to rot in Hell. Sounds kinda extreme doesn't it? Well there are parts of the city that are neglected, especially in South LA, because they are already bad as it is and this makes them even worse. It just snowballs downhill picking up the trash. These spots just start to rot away. This picture is a small example of what I am talking about.

It doesn't look all that bad here but if you think about it, you wouldn't want this in your backyard or around your neighborhood. (Here is the bigger size picture.)I feel as if the city neglects these parts of the neighborhood and in the end they just become a dump site for the community. In all honesty they have to keep another population happy and these South LA folks are probably on the bottom of their list.

With all these monetary issues, I doubt that such places will get cleaned up  by the city anytime soon. The only way a flower will bloom here is if some other group comes in and decides to start a clean up.I couldn't find an organization that does so but if anyone knows of one already, please let me know and I will get involved too. bgeephoto@gmail.com is my email.

As always, your 2 minutes looking at this means a lot to me.

-Brian

Where did it go wrong?

I was driving home from work and saw this man sitting on the street in downtown and thought to myself what he was doing. It looked like he was sleeping, or maybe he was in pain and just shut his eyes to try and to make it go away. Either way, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. By the looks of it he isn't having too much fun. There are many people like this all around the city and it makes me wonder how far worse it is in other countries. So this reminds me how easy I have it and I am thankful to God for what he has given me and I hope that I reminded that I don't need anymore. Here is the bigger photograph on flickr.

"And I still hear my friend say,
“You know, you wouldn’t believe the things I saw when I was stationed overseas.”
But he somehow keeps smiling in spite all of that. While
I keep finding ways to push the good out for the bad. Oh, how selfish of myself to always say that it was more than I could take,
Like it was pain I could not shake..."- La Dispute

I decided to post again.Its been a while. I like showing my pictures even if only one person catches it so I decided to get this running again.

I think that pictures are powerful and this one right here gives one a look at something we wouldn't normally see...I guess I have peach fuzz all over my face. The eye looks ugly up close but what a thing it is. Our freckles are actually craters. Check it out in a large format here in a large sizer where it looks  A LOT better!

That being the case, I decided to change the goal of my blog. Why just focus on Los Angeles? After picking up my amazing LX-5 camera, I have been taking photographs everywhere and I enjoy doing it. My goal is to show something that the human eye can't see and add commentary to it. We can start to look at things differently through pictures and actually admire that which we perceive as dull and dry.

Thanks and like always, thank you for taking the time to read and see.