Stop and Go: Documenting in a Traffic Jam

Beverly Blvd.

Commuting an hour and a half ever day, I have found it a necessity to find something productive to do with my time during that daily drive. I usually talk on the phone, catching up with friends and family or listen to music on the radio. Sometimes I find myself trying to meditate in the midst of aggressive local drivers fed up with tourists slowing down to see the sights. Through it all, I remember how I used to take public transportation for years throughout San Francisco wishing I had a car to get me there faster. The grass is always greener...

The other day I was on my way to meet a friend for oysters in Silverlake after work and started the trek across town going East on LA's historic Beverly Boulevard. I immediately found myself in a nasty traffic jam and decided there and then that I was going to make the best out of a very frustrating situation. But talking on the phone or listing to music in a traffic jam doesn't always cut it...

I have often driven across town wishing I had the time to photograph and document it's varied architectural history. And there I was, with plenty of time to do just that. I picked up my iPhone and began to photograph what was outside my car window every time I had to stop. What developed from a need to keep me from stressing out in the middle of a parking lot, was a series of images that captured random street scenes thanks to the very traffic jam that made me late for my dinner date. Normally, I would have never captured images on my iPhone from my car but as I was literally waiting for things to move, I grabbed the chance to document my journey.

Looking back at the images after I had finally reached my destination (almost an hour late), I saw not only the architectural history but the culturally rich diversity that ran from West to East. You can see which areas were depressed, which have been handed down from one culture to the next and which were being brought back to their original period. Each block revealed the progression and evolution of their surrounding neighborhoods melding into the next, allowing me to capture a small portrait of Los Angeles in the midst of her madness.

Next time I'll take Wilshire,

Julie Pavlowski Green
May 24, 2014