The West Side

Santa Monica Ocean Avenue. Digital Photograph. © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.

It's Saturday again, go figure. It's nice to be somewhere moist. I am back in the hotel after the morning coffee and crumpets. So I'm sitting in this room contemplating a shower and finding lunch. The motel is nice enough. It's one of those formerly sleazy sort of places that become almost retro cool after becoming a quality comfort inn. There's a perfect iron shaped mark right in the middle of the floor, an arrow pointing out.

This morning I went out to the edge of the world and shot black and white film of some folks on the beach. It feels strange to be in a place where people actually go outdoors to exercise. Maybe a thousand people jogged by me in organized groups of about 100. There were groups around the center there -- with loud speakers and it felt like a real city for a minute.

I need to look at a map, because unlike San Francisco, or Phoenix for that matter, this town actually has freeways that go different places. I walked over the Pacific Coast Highway -- the PCH -- to get down to the beach. I need to figure out where these roads go so that I can get lost more effectively.

P.S. I shot this photo two weeks ago.