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Photography

January 2010

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010 – Inherently Corrupt

The French critics Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton coined the term – in their 1955 book Panorama du film noir amιricain 1941–1953 (A Panorama of American Film Noir). Film Noir was the black-and-white crime films, with the low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions, and lots of deep shadows falling on everything – shadows from the Venetian blinds or the banister or whatever. There was the wise-cracking burnt-out private detective with his own moral code, the murky plot with all the intense sexual undertones (lots of bad girls, and only bad girls) – and someone trapped in an unwanted situation – they didn't cause it but they were making it worse – and random, uncaring fate that had them doomed. The world was inherently corrupt, you see, and the city streets were always wet. The classic is The Big Sleep (1946) – from the 1939 Raymond Chandler novel, set right here in a wet and morally ambiguous Hollywood.

And some days out here are just like the old movies. The scene today in and around Raymond Chandler Square, at the corner of Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards, the site of Philip Marlowe's office in Chandler's novels –

Neon Hotel Sign and Pigeons, North Las Palmas, Hollywood
"Dope" - sign warning drug dealers, Yucca and North Las Palmas, Hollywood
Fence Graffiti, Yucca and North Las Palmas, Hollywood
Forbidden Planet poster, window of Larry Edmunds, Hollywood Boulevard
"Eyeful" (Bettie Page), window of Larry Edmunds, Hollywood Boulevard
Orange wig in shop window, Hollywood Boulevard
American Split, Hollywood Boulevard
Lucille Ball graphic on rollup door, Hollywood Boulevard
Lucille Ball graphic on rollup door, Hollywood Boulevard
Spider at Hollywood Toys and Costumes, Hollywood Boulevard
Red Wall, Geisha House, Hollywood Boulevard
Sign in Spanish warning drug dealers, Yucca and North Las Palmas, Hollywood

But it's all a game –

Notice of filming, January 26, 2010, North Las Palmas, Hollywood

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back to this site.

Technical Note:

These photographs were taken with a Nikon D200 – the lenses used were AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or AF Nikkor 70-300 mm telephoto.  The high-resolution photography here was modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0 software.

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All text and photos unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik 

[January 2010] [Day One] [Dark Messages] [Perfect Day] [A Strange Place] [God and Hollywood] [Corner Light] [Play Acting] [Coastal Fog] [Winter Birds] [At Random] [The Birthday] [Notice of Filming] [Odder Details] [January Garden] [At the Far End] [Perfect California] [California Family] [The Local Saint] [The Kosher News] [Balloon Day] [Hollywood Hello] [At Heliotrope] [Before the Rain] [That's Odd] [Between Storms] [Color Studies] [Rain World] [Beach Poetry] [Cultural Mix] [Hollywood Weeps] [Back to the Sun] [Local Nightmare] [Cultural Debris] [Inherently Corrupt] [Sun Fountain] [Clouds Departing] [Selling High] [Hollywood Tease] [Hollywood High] [The Race Question] [The Clouds] [Winter Magnolia] [Shy Blooms]