American Boardwalks

Perhaps boardwalks are to the U.S. what seaside promenades are to Southern Europe. In that vein and as a follow up to my Promenade des Anglais post here are a few on both coasts, each with a distinct personality of its own.

For almost 100 years people have been strolling along the boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn. It’s urban Americana at the beach, New York City style.

Sandwich boardwalk in Cape Cod, Massachusetts couldn’t be any more different than Coney Island. There is no commercialism here, just a peaceful path that leads you through a salt marsh and over the dunes straight to Town Neck Beach.

On the West Coast, Ocean Front Walk is considered the boardwalk of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Fitness enthusiasts, tourists, surfers, street performers and the homeless all rub shoulders here amongst the palm trees, souvenir shops and cafes.

Which boardwalks or promenades do you prefer to stroll?

Street Scenes: Vintage Hollywood

For more than two decades the corner of La Brea and 1st in Hollywood, Los Angeles has been the scene of a large collection of former movie props for sale and rent.

The contents of Nick Metropolis spill onto the sidewalk. It is filled with oddities, eccentric objects of desire and vintage pieces sought by designers, collectors and assorted pack rats.

Los Angeles Bound

I’m flying to Los Angeles this week to spend about seven days photographing the city and surrounds. This is an annual trip to update my image files and it is no coincidence that this time of year is chosen.

Unlike the typically bleak North East during winter months, the light is good most of the year in Southern California. LA is the epicenter of the film industry in the United States for good reason. I’ll just happen to be there during the Oscars so I leave you with this photograph of preparations for the Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard taken on a previous trip.

Canals From Around The World

Canals have been a form of transport since ancient times. 

The Aztecs built the canals of Xochimilco located in what is now the far south of Mexico City. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, today Xochimilco is a popular place to rent a colorful trajinera.

The completion of the Panama Canal about 100 years ago connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and saved ships the long and often dangerous journey of traveling around South America.

Built with their namesake in Italy in mind, the Venice Canals of Venice Beach in Los Angeles are a beautiful place to take a stroll.

Artists are among those who inhabit the houseboats floating on Regents Canal in Little Venice, London. I lived a block or two away from Regents Canal when I lived and worked in London back in the day.

Do you have canals where you live and are there any you would love to see?

Homes From Around The World

The architectural styles of homes unique to a particular region or city are often travel icons. 

The decadent Victorian homes referred to as Painted Ladies say San Francisco as much as the Golden Gate Bridge.

Though in the same country the adobe homes of New Mexico and other parts of the Southwestern United States couldn’t be any more different than the Victorian beauties of San Francisco. Their architectural roots are Native American and the material used to build them suited to dry, hot climates. 

More than a few colonial Mexican cities have been named UNESCO World Heritage sites due in large part to their stunning architecture. This colorful casita in Guanajuato may look small from the outside but don’t be fooled. Homes of this genre regularly feature an outdoor central courtyard and are long and spacious.   

Like the casitas of Mexico, Hutong homes found in Beijing, China also appear small from the outside and feature a courtyard lifestyle.

What style home is unique to the part of the world you live in?

The Canals of Los Angeles California

I wonder how many tourists strolling the boardwalk in Venice Beach, Los Angeles realize that the area is named for the canals built by a tobacco magnate at the turn of the last century?

Less than a five minute walk from the counter culture malcontents, tourists, surfers, street performers and homeless along the beach and boardwalk the pedestrian paths of the Venice Canals make for a nice stroll. They provide ample opportunity to appreciate the eclectic architecture of the homes that line them. It’s not uncommon to wonder what it would be like to live here. To start, you’ll need a few million dollars to purchase a home.

Abbot Kinney and his partner as part of a resort town they founded complete with amusement park, known as Venice of America, built the man made canals. Venice, its namesake of course the original in Italy, fell on hard times in the 1920s in part due to prohibition and politics. Its decline continued through the 1970s when urban blight was at its height. In the 1980s Venice began its ascent and was reborn again as a tourist mecca aided by its pedestrian friendly nature, a rarity in LA, and was touted as a unique attraction during the 1984 Summer Olympics. 

If you find yourself in Venice brunch along the aptly named Abbot Kinney Boulevard at Hals Bar and Grill. Or if you prefer a ringside view along the boardwalk check out Figtree’s Café and Grill. I can recommend the huevos rancheros and the coffee is good.

Los Angeles Bound

I’m flying to Los Angeles, California later today. This trip, the first of the year, involves visiting good friends, curing the winter blahs and photography of course. This time of year can yield some of the bluest, smog free skies in LA.  

How do you cure the winter blahs? Does it involve travel?

Pictured above: Venice Beach

2011 Travels In Photographs: What Makes You Want To Go?

The aim of travel photographers is to capture a destination in a way that instantly takes you there and makes you want to go. Beautiful scenery is an easy way to achieve this but travel photography is also about what makes a culture unique. Below I chose a single photograph from each place I traveled to in 2011 that defined my experience. Easier said than done.

In March I traveled to Mexico City, Oaxaca and Puebla. The above photograph was taken in a food market in Oaxaca. To me it defines the artistry seen throughout Mexico in many contexts. Here everyday food items in plastic bins are arranged in a way that makes them look like vivid art. Note the absence of commercial logos.

The Golden Gate bridge would have been easy to illustrate San Francisco. But I would never want to bore you. Pictured here is a photograph taken in April of a mural in the Mission District. It is a memorial to a San Francisco rap artist.

This was taken in Cozumel, Mexico in the off season in July. There is a reason why a beautiful empty beach with white sands and azure water never goes out of style.

Idyllic and insular these Victorian gingerbread cottages are on the grounds of the Camp Meeting Association in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. Methodists who every summer would camp and worship here originally occupied the grounds in the 19th century. The cottages, privately owned by camping descendents and members of the Camp Meeting Association, eventually replaced the tents of the original worshippers.

A place of privilege the French Riviera is no place for bargains except for the public pedestrian scenic coastal path which stretches from Cap d’Ail to Monaco. It is lined with Belle Epoque villas perched in the mountains and along the Mediterranean. Early October, when I was there, was a perfect time to go. Beautiful weather and no crowds. The local wines are a bargain also. But you already knew that.

Puerto Rico brings to mind a proud heritage and the beauty to back it up. This photograph of the Paseo de La Princesa (Walkway of the Princess) and the Old City wall, a Unesco World heritage site in Old San Juan, was taken in November.


Wishing you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2012. Where will your travels take you in 2012?

Street Scenes: Where Time Stops In The Haight

Haight Ashbury in San Francisco was the epicenter of 1960s hippie culture in the U.S. Today some remnants of that era still survive if you don’t include the touristy shops selling tie dye and Grateful Dead t-shirts.

On the corner of Haight and Ashbury is a clock permanently set to 4:20 p.m., which is known as international bong hit time.

420 is code for those involved in cannabis culture. Reports vary as to where 420 originated. Urban legend has it that 420 is police code for marijuana. Others argue 4:20 is the time a group of high school students in the neighborhood in the 1970s used to meet after school to partake.

Today April 20th is an unofficial holiday for cannabis culture folks to gather and light up. In San Francisco the day is celebrated in Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park.

I happened to walk by Hippie Hill on April 20th of this year and saw large groups of people sitting in circles engulfed in plumes of smoke. At the time I was unaware of the holiday and just assumed this is what the locals do in San Francisco.

Have you ever unexpectedly stumbled across a counter culture or unusual holiday or festival in your travels?

Kerouac’s Alley

In between a bar and a bookstore in North Beach, San Francisco is an alley where Jack Kerouac was chucked after a particularly boisterous night of boozing. The bar, Vesuvio, and City Lights Bookstore were popular hangouts for the iconic founding father of The Beat Generation and his clan.

Jack Kerouac Alley connects North Beach with Chinatown and is about 60 feet long. On the walls flanking it are murals.

You can pick up copies of Kerouac’s and his Beat brethren’s prose at City Lights and have a drink named after him just a few steps away. Be sure not to suffer the same fate as Kerouac in the alley though - his namesake cocktail consists of rum, tequila, orange/cranberry juice and lime served in an extra large glass.

Bridges From Around The World

Some of the most iconic travel images worldwide are of bridges.

The Golden Gate Bridge is amongst the most photographed bridges in the world and on many travelers’ itineraries when visiting San Francisco.

Sant Angelo Bridge spanning the Tiber River in Rome is pedestrian only. It was built in 134 AD long before the automobile was invented.

Some Bridges are pilgrimages for travelers not because of their architectural appeal but for their historical significance. Freedom Bridge in Paju, South Korea was used to repatriate POWs returning from the North.

More than 5,000 people walk across the Brooklyn Bridge every day, many of them tourists. It rivals the Golden Gate in terms of being the most photographed in the world.

What bridges have you gone out of your way to see when traveling?

San Francisco Bound

I’m heading to the airport shortly to catch a flight to San Francisco where I’ll spend the rest of the week.

I haven’t been to San Francisco, which I used to visit regularly, in about 10 years. The first visit was at the age of 16. I biked with American Youth Hostels from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco camping and staying in hostels in the three weeks it took. A love affair with the Pacific Coast Highway began.

The following year I biked with AYH from San Francisco to San Diego. On average we biked 30-40 miles a day. One day I’d like to travel from Vancouver to San Diego, although in a car, stopping at whim along the way.

What road trips are you longing to take?

Venice’s From Around The World

There are certain cities in the world that set the benchmark for others to claim as their namesake. Venice is one of them.

Tai O is known as the Venice of Hong Kong. Stilt houses line the waterways of the small fishing village located on Lantau Island.

Artists are among those who inhabit the houseboats floating on Regents Canal in Little Venice, London. I had the good fortune to live here for a year, although not in a houseboat, when I worked in London.

It may come as no surprise that Los Angeles’ version of Venice is man made. A tobacco magnate founded it at the turn of the last century. Homes were built along canals modeled after the original city.

Outdoor Cafes From Around The World

Outdoor cafes offer the traveler a place to sit, have a beverage and people watch. After exploring a new place on foot for hours they are a welcome oasis.

Venice Beach California has outstanding weather most of the year and is prime people watching territory. You can observe street performers, malcontents and the very fit and not so modest put on a constant show from the comfort of one of its many outdoor venues.

Rome has an abundance of outdoor eateries like this one in Piazza Navona. It’s refreshing not to be rushed to pay your bill long after you have emptied a cup of coffee.

Along Beijing’s Houhai Lake trendy outdoor wateringholes offer a good way to rest your feet and recharge.

The best outdoor cafes are not always in big cities. This one in San Pedro, Guatemala offers million dollar views of Lake Atitlan.

What are some of your favorite outdoor cafes at home or abroad?

City Icons: Los Angeles

You didn’t think I was going to write about the Hollywood sign did you? Perhaps rivaled only by Mexico City, Los Angeles is all about car culture and the many hours spent driving on its massive network of freeways. LA, like Mexico City, is also one of the smoggiest cities in the world. The difference between the two transportation wise is that Mexico City has an excellent metro system while Los Angeles is in the midst of completing a more extensive metro. I can’t imagine Los Angelinos will abandon their beloved cars en mass once it is complete and more convenient.

For those not used to the freeway system it can take nerves of steel to navigate six lanes populated by aggressive drivers who put the pedal to the metal only to hurry up and wait when they hit a traffic snarl. The city’s freeways are essentially parking lots during rush hour. In fact I had to wait a while well after rush hour before traffic starting moving to capture the motion of cars pictured above.

What are the cities of the world you have lived in or traveled to where a car is not necessary? I’ll vouch for New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Previous Posts in this Series:

Seoul
Panama City
Tokyo
Dubai
Mexico City

Street Scenes: Unwrapped Oscar Hollywood

On my recent trip to Los Angeles I spent some time on Hollywood Boulevard updating my photography files for the agencies I submit stock photography to. Just a week before the Academy Awards preparation had begun outside the Kodak Theatre for the Red Carpet event.

I always seem to travel to Los Angeles right around Oscar time. It’s the tale end of the long winter in the Northeast and a desperate need to see the sun and catch up with old friends who migrated from New York years ago brings me back most years. Nothing shakes off the winter blahs like good company and ocean air.

Where do you go when you need to escape and rejuvenate? Are you able to do this closer to home?

Los Angeles Bound

I’m in Los Angeles through Monday. A cheap flight, good friends willing to put me up and a need to shake off the winter blahs prompted me to book a flight a few weeks back.

Naturally I plan to spend a good amount of time photographing the city. I’m on a night photography mission this time around. As always I’ll have plenty to post when I return.

Beaches From Around The World

If you had to choose between escaping to the mountains or the ocean which would you choose? I’m more of an ocean person but in a perfect world I’d be happy perched along the Pacific Coast on a mountain overlooking the ocean. The best of both worlds is always a good thing.

Believe it or not the Pacific Ocean in Southern California is too cold to take a dip in many months out of the year. But this doesn’t faze surfers who come prepared wearing wet suits.

Further down the coast in Mexico, the waters of Zihuatanejo were the perfect temperature last November.

In order to get this beach view of the Burj al Arab in Dubai you’ll need to pony up to stay at an exclusive beach resort or pay for a day pass. Or if you are like me you somehow manage to walk past the receptionist and cabana boys handing out towels as you enter the beach despite the fact that you are carrying heavy camera equipment and in no way are dressed for the beach.

Known as the Windy City Essaouira in Morocco is a wind surfer’s paradise. It’s the perfect place to sit under an umbrella and take in the ocean breeze.

Published Photographs: Hollywood Edition

In honor of Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony I'd like to thank Hollywood for what it has done for me.

These photographs have appeared in a variety of travel guidebooks, magazines and newspapers.

Published Photographs: Santa Monica Edition

The light in Southern California is good for photography almost 10 months of the year leaving the window wide open in terms of the best time to go. Below are a sample of some of the photographs I have sold of Santa Monica.

They have appeared in a variety of magazines, newspapers and guide books in the U.K. and U.S. and tourist promotions in Japan.

From top to bottom: Condos and Beach Houses; Third Street Promenade; The Pier; Palisades Park.