From April of 2006 through September of 2008 I spent many Saturday afternoons at 5th & Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles. Two years ago drug dealing crews operated on this corner: it was rough by day and dangerous at night. Today, more police walk the streets, the downtown is undergoing renewal, and new shops, galleries and cafes are opening. But in the early afternoons during this time, I would set up in the shade and ask passersby if they would stand for a portrait. Most declined my request because they were in a hurry, did not wish to be photographed, or were suspicious of my intentions. To the few who did cooperate, I gave simple directions: stand here, look into the lens, please be serious. Getting a successful portrait -- one that is both personally revealing and suggestive of something larger -- is extremely difficult in the minute or two my subjects allow me on the street. Always I am striving to capture a "longer period of time" in their faces. But whether I succeed with the portraits or not, I love interacting with my subjects, and I am continually amazed at how some of them can reveal things very private, even painfully so, during our brief encounters. I thank them for what they have given here, and I hope in the film you will see (or feel) what we all share in common.

My guitarist friend, Danny Combs (dannycombs.com), wrote original music for this show. After seeing my street portraits, and also spending time teaching poor children in Nashville, Tennesee how to play guitar, he was inspired to write "Waiting For Paradise," a beautifully haunting original score for guitar and cello. I hope you enjoy the photographs and his music .


-- Dick Sanders, December 2008.

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