Month 3 of L.A. in Black and White Photos

Someone last week asked if I felt pressure to take a photo every day for my year-long project of documenting Los Angeles in black and white photos. And my answer was a quick “yes.” As in yes, it is something I feel like I have to do every day, but not in like an “I have to take out the cat litter” every day type of way. More of like an “I have to get outside” every day type of way.

For those newcomers to WTG or my project, this is a challenge that began on the first day of the year to document L.A. in black and white photos for every day that I’m here in 2018. 3 months in and that’s 70 photos. So theoretically, I should have 250-300 photos of Los Angeles in black and white at the end of the year, which I’m documenting on my Instagram stories and WTG Instagram account.

By and large, there’s really been no structure, or even a shot list to this. Most of the photos I've taken have occurred during my usual day-to-day activities, like on the way to the coffee shop, while meeting friends, or on my usual evening walks. Examples include last weekend, when I paused to take a photo of the exterior sign of the bar (pictured above) I was meeting friends at, or a few days ago, snapping a shot inside a new juice spot I hadn’t visited.

But the photo I took last night really answers the question of why I’m doing this project of capturing L.A. in black and white photos for an entire year. I had gone last night with some friends to the final game of the Dodgers’ opening weekend series with the San Francisco Giants (Go Dodgers!). Upon exiting the stadium in the bottom of the 7th to come home early, I all of a sudden stopped at one of the main plazas just outside the gate. Here, I was staring eye-to-eye with a statue of Jackie Robinson sliding to the backdrop of a Dodgers Stadium sign and stadium lights that were brightly lit. And there wasn’t a single person around (because who leaves before the 7th Inning Stretch?). So I quickly took out my camera, snapped a few photos while I could, and then continued onto my car.

Last night’s impromptu photos are the perfect example of why I’ve continued on with this project. In such a fast-paced city, this has helped slow me down, putting my senses on high alert, and causing me to see Los Angeles through a different light and lens (literally). In my four years of living in Los Angeles, I don’t know if I’ve loved the City of Angels as much as I do right now. In fact, March may have been one of my favorite, most complete months of living in L.A. Is that directly a result of my photo project? I don’t know. But I do believe that love, whether for a person, place, or experiences, is intensified when we stoke the flames. And there’s no surer way to do that then changing how we see, experience, and interact with that person, place, or experience.

Meanwhile, see a few of the photos from last month of documenting Los Angeles in black and white photos.