LAX

• Photography

I lived in LA for ten years one time. Every now and then, I end up back out there. Sometimes I drive but usually, I fly. I love flying. I love the take-off. I love the turbulence. I love a cocktail at 30,000 feet. I love the kitschy illustrations of what to do in the event of an emergency landing. I love it all. And I love airports.

What I enjoy most are the people. Airports are unique in a couple of ways. Airports are unique in that everyone there, with the exception of airport staff, are going somewhere or coming from somewhere. People travel for myriad reasons, and at the airport, everyone is a traveler. airports also have the unique quality of being the first impression for many on a new city, country, and culture. LAX is a poor introduction to LA, but nonetheless, it's an introduction. Down the trodden gates to the worn out baggage claim and outside where the yellow cabs flow like the salmon of Capistrano out into a world traffic, dirt, culture, good weather, great food, excellent music, happy people, and pretty much anything you want.

So one time, while visiting LA for a 4 day shoot (which turned into a month long vacation), I went on a little skate from Venice Beach to Manhattan Beach. This isn't much of a skate looking at the map, but it'll take up an afternoon. After negotiating the harbor, grabbing a beer at the Shack, and winding my way down the beach path, I found myself in Manhattan Beach.

LAX, also known as Los Angeles International Airport was just east of me. The end of the runway couldn't have been more than a few hundred yards away up on a little hill. If you have ever flown out of LAX, then you know that the planes take off heading west towards Hawaii catapulting directly over the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Well, I ended up directly underneath these departing planes. The first one was so close. I swear I could have hit it with a rock if i would've tried. Another flew over, then another, and then another. I stood there watching these planes fly overhead, and I began wondering where they were going and where they had been.

I couldn't help but to think about where I had been, and where I am going. That one is going to Denpasar, I thought. That one to Lima. That one to Barcelona. That one to San Fransisco. The next was going to Denver and the one after that to Prague. I wondered where everyone was going, what they were going to do, and with who.