1998. Bug was a Hollywood street punk, along with his buddies Bread and Skabies. He was originally from Riverside and had a garage out there he could stay in. He and the boys would head out every few weeks to shower. He had a temporary driver’s license that stated it was not a license to drive. This was a source of wonder and we all stood in the alley and pondered it for a while over 40 ouncers.
Blog
Bug in Hollywood
Olive Motel #1
The Olive Motel, down on Sunset Blvd in Silverlake. It’s one of Los Angeles’ most notorious motels. There’s a very narrow driveway into an L-shaped parking lot. What this means is that neither the parking lot nor the rooms can be seen from the street; you have to go inside the motel to see anything, and anyone inside can see you coming and disappear. It makes it perfect for folks who want to stay hidden. I have a few retired crack-head friends who spent some time hiding out at the Olive Motel.
The problem is that while it is a great place for hiding out, it’s not such a great place to live, mostly on account of it being full of drugs addicts on the lam and desperately in need of money.
There’ve been more than a few murders committed at the Olive Motel. I’ve witnessed one – the shooting of a gangbanger in 2006 – but that one was rare in being so loud and public. Usually they are creepy middle-of-the-night affairs involving sex crimes and teen runaways, and happen inside the motel, hidden from view.
More Fun with Latex #2
Burlesque performer / fetish model Natalie Minx in latex. November 2006.
Kumi #3
Kumi, May 2003. She’d just finished shooting with Christine Kessler. Christine had been trying to persuade me to try digital, and handed me her camera to bang out a few. It was probably the only digital shoot with results that pleased me.
At the time, Christine had a small studio in a sleazy East Hollywood building just off Santa Monica and Western, sort of above the freeway. It was not the most workable space, but it was rad because it was so old and sketchy.
Madison Young #1
Madison Young. Echo Park, 2005.
This was the next-to-last non-personal erotic set I shot.
My last “erotica” shoot was the following day. I’ve never developed the film from that last shoot. I decided mid-way through it that I was done.
There’d stopped being any point in shooting nudes of random people, just for the sake of shooting a nude.
These shots of Madison were an exception, though. She didn’t seem like some random porn star or porn star wannabe. She seemed real. Real, to me, is sexy, and I think the shots reflect it.
Crowbar #2
Richard “Crowbar” Mather & Jim Straightedge in my backyard, South Austin, 1983.
Adventures in Pantyhose Encasement, no. 1
Lena Ramon, from a pantyhose encasement series featuring transexual mistress and pantyhose encasement specialist Yasmin Ling.
I’m honestly not 100% sure what I think of pantyhose encasement. It’s interesting to look at, but I’m not sure I find it erotic. I suppose fetish is inherently specialist stuff.
Shot in Christine Kessler’s studio, Hollywood, 2003. Gallery to follow.
Morning #1
A morning in February, 2007. Los Angeles.