I recently discovered (via this LA Weekly article), that there’s a world class Ghanaian xylophonist (gyil player to be precise) living in my neighborhood, so naturally I contacted him to see if I could arrange a photo session. His name is SK Kakraba, and he kindly invited me over to his house, where I shot these photos today. Angeleno’s can catch him this Friday performing at the beautiful Getty Museum.
I shot these portraits of artist Esteban Schimpf at his Highland Park, Los Angeles apartment last night. I met him a few months ago here in L.A., but it turns out we lived a few blocks from each other in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in the early 2000s. Check out Schimpf’s work here.
Walking around Highland Park recently, I saw an old sign that said “Typewriter Repair Shop.” Yet another business made obsolete in the digital age…or so I thought. But I looked under the sign, through the glass door, and noticed activity inside. I got closer, took a peek, and sure enough there were stacks of beautiful old typewriters, and a man working on one.
It turns out business is booming at U.S. Office Machines, where Ruben and his brother Danny spend their days bringing new life to old typewriters. They both learned the trade from their father, Luis Flores, who started the Highland Park shop in 1962 (it’s been at three different locations in the neighborhood, all on Figeuroa). Danny (2nd from top) and Ruben (3rd from top) kindly allowed me to take pictures.
Photos by Jim Newberry
This is Will, a man I met a couple weeks ago on Figueroa near my new digs in Highland Park, Los Angeles. I watched him deftly balance this beat-up loveseat on top of the matching couch, and then photograph the arrangement, which he explained to me was his art.
