Love Portrait

I immediately started shooting pictures. I couldn't believe how perfectly beautiful they were inside the small tent pitched in Skid Row, that all of this intensity inside the tent was a secret world that only they inhabited....and me too for a time.

As it appears from the outside, their homestead in Skid Row reflects very little life. This was what I saw when I showed up one morning to say hi to Doreen.

Not one picture is posed....I feel that with a sharp eye and speedy recognition of "decisive moments", a photographer should be able to capture occurences and compose so that a naturally occurring position or scene is perfectly posed...without any input from the photographer, as moments that happen spontaneously between people, caught on the fly. With a sharp eye and speedy recognition of "decisive moments", a photographer can accomplish a great deal without manipulation of elements within the frame.

As they talked together, the implied sexuality in evidence here is really a level of acceptance and comfort. Hand positions reflect ease with each other and comfort with themselves as individuals.

Although not obvious to outside observers, there's a lot of life inside these tents that are such a big part of the visual impression of Skid Row. They're full of lives being lived, and tremendous intensity, contrasting sharply with the daily activities going on around them.

Valentine"s Day rose...Skid Row is an industrial area. Toy wholesalers, seafood warehouses, pallet jacks, workmen....the neighborhood has a double identity.

Getting Dressed

Getting dressed on Skid Row in Los Angeles has at times a different meaning, and by other standards can be incomplete. It's common to see people's bodies in various states of dress.