Claremont and Los Angeles

[adrian_stone1]

<p><strong>Photographing Claremont and Los Angeles</strong></p>

<p>I am looking for some advice with my current photography project. I am a keen amateur photographer and a photographic judge and lecturer with the East Anglian Federation of Photographic Societies here in the UK. I judge competitions and present lectures at about 80 clubs and societies per year. I also teach a little at our local college and mentor photographic beginners.<br>

I want to produce a lecture which highlights the similarities and differences of lifestyles in the UK and the USA. I spent the bulk of June this year photographing our city of Bath. I was lucky in gaining the support and encouragement of the Bath Tourist Board, they provided me with a lot of local contacts. My aim was to look beyond the usual tourist locations; to photograph workplaces, leisure facilities, parks and gardens, shops, and how the city is organised, both physically and socially.<br>

I will be staying in Claremont, Los Angeles for most of November 2011, where I would like to complete the second part of my lecture. Aside from the main tourist attractions, Los Angeles isn’t explored much by UK visitors and would be of interest to them. My wife is originally from Topanga Canyon, and we have visited LA regularly over the years. I think it would be interesting to contrast it with the City of Bath. I am thinking I could combine images of everyday life in Claremont with other places of interest in the surrounding area.<br>

I am hoping to gain the support of people representing institutions and organisations in Claremont, and in the surrounding area. I would appreciate any thoughts you have regarding possible contacts, and potential photographic locations. <br>

Thank you very much.<br>

Adrian Stone</p>

[john_a5]

<p>Have you been to Claremont before? Admittedly, it has been awhile since I was there--I went to college in the area--but it is much different than "LA" and was more of a suburban town/sprawl than a city like LA. Claremont is a hard 38 miles from LA and has no resemblance at all to what most would consider "LA". In fact, no one would consider it LA or even part of it. It is actually closer to San Bernardino although it is still, barely, inside Los Angeles County.</p>

<p>I just raise the issue because having grown up in the "suburbs" of LA and having worked an lived in Los Angeles, the life is not like city life or comparable to it in the suburbs. Life is more spread out and one's focus is generally out of the community rather than into it--they are just places to sleep and maybe buy groceries. Having the Colleges there does make it a bit different than some of the other towns around there, but I don't know how comparable it would be to Bath, which I have no sense of.</p>

<p>Maybe you know all of this, but I thought it might be of value if you didn't.</p>

[adrian_stone1]

<p>Hello John<br /> <br /> I've not been to Claremont before, although I have visited the LA area quite a few times. My wife is originally from Topanga Canyon. I'm sure my project will be a challenge, but LA's stark difference to UK cities helps to tell my story. There's a lot I like about LA, other elements are more of a challenge.The education theme in Claremont is a helpful tip. <br /> I'll press on with my project. Maybe it needs fresh eyes to pick up on quinessentially LA artefacts.</p>

<p>Any advice from other photographers would be really helpful.</p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>Claremont is a fairly well-to-do little community, very influenced by the presence of the colleges. It's also an older community in some ways (in the Southern California sense), having been one of the early agricultural centers of the citrus industry. There's very little real evidence of that left, a packing house (the last one?) is an art center, if I recall correctly. The various packing houses placed artistic/romantic labels on the citrus packing crates and those are in nostalgic evidence through much of the previously citrus oriented communities. ( As opposed to the smudge pots which burned cheap crude oil to try to reduce potential frost damage to the citrus crops and did nothing healthful for air quality.)</p>

<p>Along with the colleges, etc., there are also a number of retirement communities. Pilgrim Place (check on the web) is a retirement community for people who'd been in religious occupations of various sorts and it might be an interesting place to check out. their annual festival is in November so it might be of interest. Where Topanga might dredge up memories of the hippie era, Claremont is more liberal academia in flavor. Neither would be typical "Los Angeles." The downtown era has been revitalized to some extent away from the car and is often an area studied by urban planning, architecture, etc., students from the local universities and colleges.</p>

<p>Because of it's age, a good chunk of the city is "older," some"Victorian," "Edwardian" and Craftsman/Bungalow homes, large trees, etc. More typical southern California suburban sprawl has pretty much filled in around Claremont so the "malls," light industry, etc., and various economic and ethnic diversity is present, if not in Claremont, quite close by. There is access to downtown via Metrolink commuter rail service from Claremont so it's not difficult to get to other, perhaps, more typical Los Angeles sorts of places. </p>

<p>As an aside, there used to be a fairly competent camera store in Claremont but it's my understanding that the owner developed other interests and it's since closed. One might have thought that the colleges might have kept it alive somewhat longer had the owner made an effort to keep it open. </p>

<p>Although the historic timeline is certainly more compressed in L.A., it's a little hard to define what might be quintessentially L.A. any more than trying to arrive at what might be quintessentially "London." </p>

[adrian_stone1]

<p>Hello Craig<br>

<br /> I thoroughly enjoyed your message, thank you.<br /> <br /> My wife and I are swapping houses with two academics from Claremont, and I think the cultural feel of Claremont, as you describe it, will suit us well.<br /> <br /> Your historical insights are fascinating. I believe much of the greater LA area was at one point covered in citrus groves and it will fun to discover any remaining artefacts from that period.<br /> <br /> I'll contact Pilgrim Place. Whereas Christianity is alive and well in the US, organised religion has been on the wane in the UK for decades. Recently there has been a faint rekindling, mainly from islamic immigrants and Catholics from Eastern Europe. I've been in touch with Claremont Heritage and the've been really supportive.<br /> <br /> No slice of any city is really representative of the whole country, particularly the USA, but I'm hoping a few iconic images will help to generate some of the moods and feelings in the US at present.<br /> <br /> Thanks again.<br /> <br /> Adrian</p>

<p> </p>

[photo_galleries]

<p><a href="http://thevillageclaremont.com/">Claremont Village</a> is always interesting. Stop by Some Crust Bakery for some pastries. You'll see a corkboard with names and shoe sizes -- the bakery owner supports "Shoes That Fit" an organization that distributes new shoes to children who need them across the country. Do consider selecting a child's name and buying a pair of shoes for that child.<br>

Anyway, I assume you'll have a car? If so, Pasadena is not that bad of a drive if you don't go during rush hour. It's about 35 miles away. <a href="http://www.oldpasadena.org/">Pasadena opens up some photo opportunities, especially in old town.</a></p>

<p> </p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>Claremont was also on Route 66 - that was an important migration route from the eastern states to California, especially during the depression/Dust bowl years and later as a tourist route until interstate divided highways were built. There are still remnants of that era around and if you check out Route 66 web info, you may find things of interest, including one of the WigWam Motels in one of the communities to the east. There is still some citrus grown in the Inland Empire, a state park commemorates the industry in Riverside and the San Bernardino County Museum emulates a huge orange, and has some citrus still being ranched around it, along with some of the tall palm lined avenues. </p>

<p>It's not too close but if you check on driving Highway 126 west from Santa Clarita to the Ventura area, it's still much more agricultural and more representative of what things used to be like. That's not too far from the Topanga area.</p>

[adrian_stone1]

<p>Hello Keith<br>

Thanks for your tips. We're hoping to visit the Hntingdon gardens, so a visit to Pasadena seems very doable. I've heard quite a few positive things about that area.</p>

<p>The Crust bakery sounds great - the USA do wonderful baked goods. I reckon on gaining about 7 pounds over the course of the month's trip. I used to worry about it, but it comes off after a while back home with human sized portions of food.</p>

<p>All the Best. Adrian</p>