Another planet
It’ s Sunday afternoon in Venice Beach and it’ s absolutely packed with people. I had just flown in from Perth( March 2010) and after 25 plus hours of traveling I walked from my hotel in Marina Del Rey a couple of miles to Venice Beach. I just passed the famous muscle beach and climbed into the stands overlooking a basketball game. I may have been the only white person in the crowd but I really didn’ t care. I probably should have been afraid that someone would take my camera and lenses but I was too caught up in the moment that really felt like I had walked into a prison basket ball game.
Later as I walked on further, I saw paramedics attending to some junkies, the weirdest of the weirdest people coming up to me, graffiti on absolutely everything except the famous skate park, some uniquely tattooed people and so much more. I couldn’ t take photos fast enough and I missed so many great shots. I strolled back to Marina Del Rey just in time to eat what I really craved for- Mexican. Perth has no real Mexican food so I certainly wanted to eat in a local restaurant which I found called Baja Cantina. Super big salted margarita’ s with authentic Mexican food. As usual the serves were way to big for my appetite but nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed what I ate.
I was alone on a mission to attend a large conference in Orlando, Florida and as usual, I overnighted in Los Angeles to decompress and try to get adjusted to the time zone changes that when I reach Orlando would be 180 degrees out of phase so 9:00 am in Perth would be 9:00 pm in Orlando.
When I returned to Perth and showed the photos to Mimi, Luke and Ryan they thought that I had gone to another planet and were so worried that I was hanging out in such a neighborhood. But I really loved it and looked forward to going back for more food and photos.
Street Girls, Venice Beach, California USA Photo by Barry Epstein
Graffitti, Venice Beach, California USA Photo by Barry Epstein
Sailing, Marina Del Rey, California USA Photo by Barry Epstein
Tattoo Artist, Venice Beach, California USA Photo by Barry Epstein
EMT Venice Beach, California USA Photo by Barry Epstein
Hippie Bus, Venice Beach, California USA Photo by Barry Epstein
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 108 of 156