Portrait | of a New America
Simple Change
Posted by Portrait | of a New America (los angeles, United States) on 8 May 2008 in Lifestyle & Culture and Portfolio.
Race at Skid Row Los Angeles Ca. Mile 25: Los Angeles Marathon 2008
The first time in the history of the city's most diverse event that it was run on the edge of America's most economically challenged enclave.
In the recent years, several billion dollars have been invested in Downtown Los Angeles. What was once called "Wall St. of the West" fell on hard times. For twenty plus years, the historic district was forgotten.
Crime filtered into the streets, drugs, gangs and a lack of police enforcement made Downtown a haven for thousands of homeless, shady nonprofit missions, and a preacher on every corner.
Things have changed. I personally have documented this area on and off for five years: skidrowportrait.aminus3.com
That project has ended because to continue to present images of Skid Row in the context of simple poverty is not contextually correct. The context must be placed on the foundation of change.
The streets at one time were filled with tents and dense squalor, police that did not care. Today, the contrast is stark...police seem to care, and economics has infused a new sense of growth. Skid Row, will always be a poor area, and have more nonprofit missions then most other regions in the Nation; good human service helps propel change.
Your thoughts are welcomed.
Thanks.
William
Portrait | of A New America is a simple snapshot of this nation; our concerns, and hopes for a better future. This work does not seek to answer questions regarding the complex changes; the vision is to present a range of topics that are relational to life in America: 2008.
All Rights Reserved Copyright (c) 2008: No image or text may be used without the direct written consent of William Shepherd.
