Tuesday, July 15, 2008 – The Sinister Past

A hot, dispiriting July afternoon on Hollywood Boulevard – and the past hangs heavy in the air.  The old Fox Theater seems like something from a long-forgotten horror film –

Next door, the Hollywood Studio Building – 6554 Hollywood Boulevard – Spanish Colonial Revival with Churrigueresque detail – Gogerty and Weyl, 1927 – conquistadors and odd birds and small monsters, and screaming faces –

At the Edmund's store – a poster for Little Caesar, from Belgium, in French – but you get the idea –

And this –

The speakeasy is back, just off Hollywood Boulevard on Hudson, which is pretty much an alley – the Hush Lounge – through the iron door and down the stairs to the right –

It's all darkness, even in the sunshine. A detail from the "You Are a Star" mural by Tom Suriya at the southwest corner of Hollywood and Wilcox –

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 this site. 

Technical Note:

Photographs after March 3, 2008, were taken with a Nikon D200 – or a Nikon D70 when noted. All previous photographs were taken with the D70. The lenses used are (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300 mm telephoto, or (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. Photography here is modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  The earliest photography in the archives was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

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