Los Angeles is a city full of glamour, stars, starlets and huge amount of tourists. The city in the sunshine state California is teeming with life and seems to be the perfect place for Street Photographers. This article gives you an overview of places, galleries and workshops within L. A. that every Street Photographer should know.
Street Photography in Los Angeles: The best places to hit the streets
Rodeo Drive – a high fashion shopping street
On the most famous shopping street of L. A. you will find lots of high fashion stores and boutiques that attract a huge amount of people everyday. It´s a great place to take photos of different kinds of people from curious tourists to famous celebs. Even though the three blocks of Rodeo Drive provide some good possibilities for taking photos, some people say that everything seems to be pretty fake in this area. You will get here by bus taking line 28 and getting off at Olympic/Spalding.
Show me some work – the Financial District
If you´re less interested in taking pictures of tourists and celebs, the Financial District could be right for you. Here you can find people that actually work and live in Los Angeles. Between real estate companies, hotels and skyscrapers this place provides many opportunities for Street Photography in Los Angeles.
It is quiet crowded and if you have the patience to wait for the perfect moment, you will get some good pictures of working life. To get to the Financial District is easy. You have to get to 7th Street/Metro Center. This station is served by several bus lines and also by the Red, Blue, Purple, Expo and Silver Line.
The next stop is… – Using the Metro all over L. A.
Even though the Metro ( Metropolitan Transportation Authority ) isn’t a place it provides many opportunities and scenes for Street Photography. With the second largest public transportation agency all over the nation, you can get everywhere in Los Angeles using the Metro. From Downtown to Hollywood and across all the sights. This is a great chance to get different kinds of photos, starting with tourists traveling to Disney world to inhabitants struggling with the everyday life. Using the Metro you will see all the facets Los Angeles has to offer. It will take you some time to find the right scene but it is one of the best ways to experience the city.
Those places only represent a small amount of the opportunities L. A. has to offer. There are several more like Hollywood and its Walk of Fame, many Beaches e. g. Santa Monica, Venice and Malibu or the numerous museums, theaters and parks. The whole city is full of life and people that could be the perfect scene for Street Photographers.
Amazing Street Photography from LA on Flickr:
The best photo galleries for Street Photographers
Whether you want to some photo exhibitions or you’re aiming to present your own work. Los Angeles got lots of galleries for Photography.
Drkrm
The Drkrm is a photo gallery that is specialized in photo-journalistic as well as black and white photography. The lab is currently looking for new work to present in the upcoming season.
727 S Spring St.,Los Angeles, CA 90014
The G2 Gallery
This Gallery is inspired by nature and wildlife scenes. Their goal is to point out environmentally issues and support art as well as the environment by donating the proceeds to charities that focuses on ecology.
1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd.,Venice, CA 90291
Annenberg Space for Photography
A mixture of digital and print photography is represented in this gallery, that is an initiative of the Anneberg Foundation. The whole building is inspired by the architecture of a camera and its lense. Besides the amazing exhibitions, the gallery itself is a great experience for every photographer.
2000 Avenue of the Stars, #10, 90067 Los Angeles, CA
Photographers Gallery
This is is quiet special gallery that offers to exhibit photographic art in the space of the gallery itself as well as online. Even unknown Street Photographers get the chance of presenting their work to a diverse audience.
145A North La Brea Av., Los Angeles, CA
The Perfect Exposure Gallery
This Gallery presents different kind of photographs aiming to provide art fur the general public. The exhibitions are various and free of charge like most of the galleries in Los Angeles. It also provides workshops for photographers.
3519 West 6th Street,Los Angeles, California 90020
1650 Gallery & Studio
This photographic center is in the middle of the Echo park arts district and provides different kinds of gallery exhibitions. A rated photo exhibition is offered monthly with a creative theme. The winning photos are sold in the gallery and online afterwards.
1650 Echo Park Ave, 90026 Los Angeles, CA, USA
Street Photography Workshops and courses in Los Angeles
If you want to improve your skills or make first experiences as a Street Photographer in Los Angeles, there are many different Street Photography workshop to participate in. There are varied courses and classes which offer workshops, just as varied as the possible scenes a photographer can find in L. A..
The LACP Los Angeles Center of Photography
The LACP offers a whole lot of different classes from creative thinking to wedding photography and of course Street Photography. Even within the range of Street Photography there are different kind of classes throughout the year. They LACP offers for example courses with just one session that are focused on hands-on experiences and practice. The goal of this workshops is that you get to know your camera, increase your reaction time, learn how to evaluate the lights quality. Moreover you will learn how to use people as elements in your photographs and place them to create street portraits. You will also get to know the legal rights of Street Photographers in Los Angeles during the Workshop, learn how to act alone and in a group. Another goal is to develop a unique way of seeing and exploring different imagery that provide material for Street Photography. Ibarionex Perello is an instructor that holds this kind of classes.
The LACP also offers Street Photography Workshops in Los Angeles, that last several sessions. For example the weekend-intensive workshop hold by Patrick Harbron (October 14 – 16). This two-piece course consists of a practice and a critique session.
Starting with a orientation session, you will learn techniques that help you making amazing environmental portraits using the tips you got on temperature, frames and composition and other photographic elements. The instructor will show you how to get great results with a minimum of equipment and light.
On the second day you will take part on a critique of yesterdays work and learn how to market your results to different kinds of press like magazines and corporate. This class is targeted at photographers regardless their skills.
Rinzi Ruiz – experience Street Photography with a freelancer
Besides Street Photography Workshops offered by Los Angeles galleries, there are also freelancer who provide one-on-one classes.
Rinzi Ruiz is one of those freelancers whose work has been featured in many galleries and exhibitions. As a photographer from Los Angeles he knows the area and the possibilities L. A. has to offer for Street Photography.
You can take part in an one-on-one course or a group workshop instructed by him. The one-on-one course is fitted to you and your specific needs and wishes. One of his special subjects is overcoming the fear of taking pictures of strangers and what to do if they see you photographing them. You will meet in Downtown before starting the course to discuss your need and whishes.
If you feel more comfortable taking part in a group workshop, you can participate in one of the classes Ruiz instructs in The perfect Exposure Gallery, mentioned earlier.
John Free – one-on-one Street Photography courses in Los Angeles
Free is another freelancer who offers either group workshops or one-on-one sessions, the latter is available throughout the year in Los Angeles.
He will work with you on your confidence and show you some tricks to get out of uncomfortable situations in the street. Additionally you will learn how to work quickly and quietly without having to focus on your camera. Free will show you how to spot photogenic situations and transform them into powerful pictures or even a story. The freelancer has a special five F’s system that you will get to know. At the end of the day you will get constructive critique to improve your skills.
Street Photography Workshops at Los Angeles City College
A rather favorable opportunity to take part in a Street Photography Workshop in Los Angeles are the courses offered by the LACC like the City Sights: Street Photography instructed by Raul Guereque. In those courses you will learn how to tell stories by documenting people, landscape and object. Without getting too technical, Guereque explains and shows how to use the basic skills of Street Photography like framing and composure. It’s a workshop suitable for beginners and takes places on two days.
Altogether Los Angeles provides lots of opportunities for experienced Street Photographers as well as for beginners. The present area, galleries and workshops provide the perfect scenery to pursue Street Photography as a hobby or profession.
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