Skid Row
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Willie and Friends, 6th And San Julian Street, Los Angeles Willie,left, with flag, had lived on the corner of 6th and San Julian for many years. The street suffered from extreme squalor, rats, filth, and years of accumulated grime made it distinctive and nearly impossible for most people to negotiate. The chaos and violence that characterized the street were well known, and Willie had learned to survive on the corner. He had bladder cancer, and passed away about a year and a half after this image. He was a Vietnam Veteran, and always kept a massive flag, marking his tent.
DJ And Jazzy
DJ And Jazzy, 6th And San Julian Street, Los Angeles. DJ and his dog, Jazzy, sit on the corner of San Julian Street and 6th street. DJ is rolling cigarettes made of a cannabinoid known as Spice, a dangerous concoction responsible for death and injury as a result of intoxication. The cigarettes were sold for one dollar each. San Julian was one of the roughest and most dangerous streets on Skid Row. It was lined with tents, and violent crimes, beatings, drug sales and chaos were part of daily life. The street was also one of the dirtiest streets in Los Angeles, due in part to the inability of sanitation workers to gain safe access. Dj and Jazzy were always seen together on this corner, since Jazzy was a puppy. A year after this picture, Jazzy was hit by a car near this corner and died. DJ died three months later.
Gladys Avenue
Gladys Avenue, Skid Row. A man in a wheelchair on one of the most dangerous streets in Los Angeles. Gladys Avenue at the time of this image was a place known for drug sales,crimes against women, frequent beatings and violence. Not everyone who lived in one of the tents lining the street was involved in these activities, and some that lived here did so because the Avenue got less foot traffic, and less intervention from law enforcement generally. This man was an Army Vet, like many of the disabled men who populate the streets of Los Angeles.
Little Dog On San Julian St
Victoria at 4th and San Pedro, Skid Row, Los Angeles
Skid Row Barber on Crocker Street near 6th
Jerry's Shoes
Jerry sits in the sun on Crocker Avenue on Skid Row. His feet are bleeding. He was injured by a gunshot to the head a number of years ago and suffers from disfigurement and reulting partial blindness, hearing deficits, and cognitive issues. He is without shelter of any kind. His shoes, in the foreground, are almost two years old.
5th Street food donations between San Pedro andgCrocker Street. A woman sift
5th and San Pedro, before renovations. The corner of 5th Street and San Pedro was known as "the Cuban Corner" because of the expatriot Cuban population that called the spot home and controlled the small area. Many of the people had been there for years, and banded together to sell drugs or make a scant living selling stolen, low value supermarket items. The corner was later known as "the spice corner" when the synthetic cannabinoid known as spice infiltrated Skid Row, causing illness and injury and death.
Portrait with Malcolm X, 6th Street near Gladys Park, Skid Row The portrait of Malcolm X across the street from Gladys Park attracted this man, who asked to be photographed with the image in the background. He suffered from severe mental illness, and was seen periodically in the aea, each time further deteriorated and unable to care for himself.
Waiting For Christmas
5th and Crocker Street, Fred Jordan Mission annual Christmas giveaway line stretches down the block.
James
San Julian Street, Skid Row. James was a great fan of the entertainer James Brown. He lived on the street, and had a suitcase ful of outfits he'd collected. He was never seen without his wig and sun glasses. Each outfit was carefully selected, and his friendly flamboyance was familiar in the area of San Julian near the Mission on San Pedro, and in downtown near 5th and Main Streets. His clothing was stolen, and he never managed to amass a collection of clothing as the one he lost. He could be seen, without his trademark flamboyance, occasionall in downtown, barely recognizable.
Woman sorts through donated clothing on San JUlian Street
Chocolate naps outside The Midnight Mission on San Pedro at 6th Street, Skid Row
Leanne at Maple Avenue and 7th Street
Leanne with her shopping cart at 7th and Stanford Avenue Leanne was known as the Cat Lady, and spent every available dollar on cat food for the feral, homeless cats on Skid Row. She could often be seen sitting or lying on the sidewalk, almost languidly, relaxed with her cart full of collected trash which she stored in her small studio apartment. Despite appearances, Leann wan't homeless, and, because of her significant mental illne (schizophrenia) was in the system and recieving services. Her apartment was a repository for the garbage she found on the streets of Skid Row, and waas often overflowing and infested with vermin.
A man who sells heroin sits on 6th Street, dispensing heroin to a buyer.
Genevine and friend sit, covered by her tent, at 4th and San Pedro Streets as they prepare heroin to shoot. Heroin use is illegal, and people do not shoot in public view most of the time. They sit, covered by a blanket or tarp, and in this way generally avoid arrest by police.
Arrest
A young man, high on methamphetamine, tore violentley through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. He had come from San Pedro Street in Skid Row, and was wreaking havoc as he was chased by police on foot and on bikes through the streets, trying to subdue him without causing harm to passerby, He was finally apprehended, and was incoherent, fuming and strugglung until he could be handcuffed and taken off the street.
Ronald,s Lunch on 4th Street
Ronald was an older man who had been living on the streets of Skid Row for many years. He was always dressed in a threadbare suit, and could generally be found in the area of Skid Row that was a shopping district, frequented by Latin American and Mexican families. Here he has placed his favorite lunch items on a window ledge. Just before he began his meal, a younger male had accosted him and forced him to give up the few dollars he had in his pocket.
king eddy
scene on skid row, at 5th and Los Angeles Streets The King Wddy Saloon was a favorite hangout of Charles Bukowski, among others. The spot is on Los Angeles Street and 5th, and this woman could be regularly seen smoking a cigarette in fron of the bar. She lived in a nearby SRO.
batman on crockett street
Batman holds his kitten in front of his tent on Crocker Street. Batman had found the little white kitten wobbling its way down Crocker Street, either lost or abandoned. He cared for the kitten to the best of his ability, and kept her in his tent and off the street.
A man sits, nearly catatonic, immobile, holding his meth pipe. He could only smile slightly, granting permission for the picture. He had sat frozn in this position for hours, one leg encased in a cast with the word Freedom written on it.
Crocker Street near 4th
Doreen is rejoined by Gary onCrocker Avenue after spending most of the day in each other's arms in their tent on Towne Avenue.
Pepper
Flower District/Skid Row, Los Angeles. A young man with deep ligature marks on his arms makes his way through the trash on a back street.
$th Street, Skid Row
shopping on winston street
Shoppers on Skid Row's Winston Street
Genavine on Towne Avenue in July 2016
A young sits in front of the mirror in an abandoned doorway at 6th and Los Angeles Street. He was on methamphetamine, and had almost completely lost touch with reality.
Injured cat on Stanford Avenue at The Lamp Lodge
Michelle
Michelle sits in an abandoned doorway on 6th street near Los Angeles street, the area where she could be frequently found. She was deeply psychotic, hallucinating, and concerned with her image in the mirror. She sat for many hours. She was able to speak and carry a conversation for brief minutes before breaking off and becoming lost in hallucination.