Steve Grody

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Steve Grody is a multi-tasker. And by multi-tasking I don't mean that he can talk on the phone while cooking. On any given day, Steve may be doing any one of his many passions.

For starters, he's one of (if not THE) foremost experts on Los Angeles graffiti. He wrote Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art. Out of his home base in the Arts District (he's lived here for 23 years) he spends a lot of time wandering areas of L.A. most people willfully try to avoid, like dark alleys and wash basins, looking for graffiti. He's the John James Audubon of graffiti. The Indiana Jones of street art. He can tell you who wrote what where, in what style and maybe even why.

And then on other days, he's a martial arts instructor. Since 1973, he's been studying and practicing forms of martial arts like Gung-Fu, Jeet Kune Do (under Bruce Lee's protogé Dan Inosanto) and Lameco Eskrima. And did I mention he was inducted as a Master Instructor of the Year for the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2000?

Oh, and he's an accomplished swing dancer. Really. If Steve told me, tomorrow, that he trained with NASA to be a Shuttle astronaut, given his past accomplishments, I'd have to believe him.

I met Steve through a mutual friend. We met in his studio just off Alameda St. and we talked and took pictures for a couple of hours. More talk than pictures. He's got the gift of gab and when you mix that with my inability to shut up you have a resulting firestorm of conversation. Great conversation. When you talk to Steve you feel like you're talking to Wikipedia. And I love these kind of people. Never a dull moment. He's never at a loss for words or experience.

Yeah, so... you call yourself a multi-tasker?


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Jeff

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Meet Jeff.

Jeff's a good friend of a good friend of mine. He's also a fellow photographer and a kick-ass photo assistant. We worked together for the first time on the Jackson Fans series. I had no idea what to expect.

The hardest workers are always the quietest. And unlike me, Jeff is a man of few words. But he busts ass and his brain works really fast. I found myself, on a few occasions during the Jackson shots, thinking about where I wanted him to light something only to find him already there—waiting on me. The only thing that slows this guy down are old AA batteries and a pile of cole slaw at The Original Pantry Cafe on Figueroa St.

I look forward to working with him in the future. With fresh AA batteries.

Scott Hindell

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

On the recommendation of a good friend, I recently teamed up with consultant Scott Hindell to go over ways to improve my business.

Scott doesn't give advice. (If he did, he'd have me lie down on a couch, talk about my upbringing and charge me three times as much per hour.) Scott helps you figure out who you are—then do it well. What attracted me to his services the most was he is NOT in the photography industry. Lately, my inbox has been flooded by industry experts looking to help me (and therefore themselves) through the recession. I wanted core self-reflection, without the photography markup.

I was reticent at first. I've always lived by the DIY ethic. But his insight and guidance really helped in ways I hadn't considered.

I highly recommend his services.

Markel

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

This is Markel. Markel with a "K." You see, for the first few weeks that I knew him, I was mistakenly calling him "Marcel" with a very incorrect "C." Now really, look at him, does he look like a Marcel? No. Of course not. I am an idiot.

Markel works security in my building. I see him nearly every time I enter or exit the elevator. At first he didn't smile much at me. Probably because he thought I was an idiot for calling him some French name. Eventually, I must have done or said something funny because one day, everything moved upwards and he gave me the biggest grin I'd ever seen. And just when you think that's big, make him laugh—off the charts.


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Markel is really a gentle giant. Six feet seven inches of pure nice guy. Which is why it was so hard, a few months ago, to see him go through what he went through. You see, Markel almost died. One day, that smile didn't show up for work even though the rest of him did. He had a fever and Frank, our maintenance guy, told him he looked like crap and should go home for some rest. A week or so later he was in the ICU in an induced coma. The doctors didn't know what it was but the only way to keep the fever and pneumonia from killing him was to induce the sleep. Worst of all, this fine gentle man didn't get a chance to see his wife before they sent him to slumber.

Thankfully, after some time, he pulled through. But I don't think it was luck. Markel is a strong guy. Someone of his size isn't just ALL smiles. He's a husband and father. He's got some fight in him. And this fight was worth it.

A tenant in the building started a donation fund to help with the enormous medical bills. The wonderful people of this community stepped up and helped the guy out to pay those medical bills. Medical bills that were worth every penny to bring that smile back to the front desk.

Just don't call him Marcel.


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Credits
Photo Assistant: Jeff Johnson

Rock and Roll Takes Its Toll

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Was sifting through some archive disks last night. Came across this image I'd completely forgotten about but have always loved. It was a band from Tacoma, WA called The Jet City Fix.

Amber-like (02)

Near 5th & Hewitt (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

I think I have a new theme here.

"Amber-like" (01)

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Stand on the Fourth St bridge, look up and it's magically 1928.

Interestingly, the word "electricity" comes from the New Latin ēlectricus, meaning "amber-like."

On the Road - Manhattan

Dapper isn't Dead. (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Chotskies. aka "tchotchkes." (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Times Square (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Don't Walk (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Avedon (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony


Tourist Dad (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

On the Road - New York City

The Hot Seat (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Dreaming on Mill St.

Mill St. between 7th & Industrial (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

UPDATE 8/3/09:
It's the work of artist Phil Lumbang. Thank you Phil. Thank you very much. So glad you chose our neighborhood.