Lights, Camera, Chinatown

Foo Chow. I once wrote a short story that opens up on two characters finishing lunch at Foo Chow's while discussing plans for a bank robbery.

In case you were unaware, these are all pictures from Chinatown in Downtown Los Angeles.

I'd been meaning to come here to see what I could do with my camera loaded with 400 speed black and white film pushed 1 stop to 800.

I don't know if I actually captured the essence of night in Chinatown, but it was something I needed to do.

Oddly enough, this is one of my favorites from this roll of film.

I'm not meaning to sound hard on myself, but this is practically the same shot I took in Pittsburgh a couple years back...at least the same composition. I think I need to start to expand my subjects beyond lights, books and rusted out, old buildings to include people.

But with that said, oh how I love lights and how they show up on film.

If you haven't been to Chinatown lately, a lot (not all) of the old retail shops have been transferred into galleries. This is particularly true of the shops that are along Chung King Road, just west of N. Hill Street.

An alley along Chung King Road (L.A., CA)