starting...

having grown up in southern california, but also having traveled the U.S. quite a bit i have come to realize that commercialism and franchising is quickly taking a toll on the individuality of the cities of this country.

when i am out, shooting or otherwise, i always take notice of the unique. be it architecture, signage (I love unique signage!), landscapes, found objects, what have you.

Sandy Vitale Dance Studio Gardena, CA.

© Mike Vega 2012

it is these things that i am attracted to, and what i choose to photograph. not merely to capture them, but to preserve them in some small way because they are rapidly disappearing. the quirky diner down the street is razed to build a mc donald's, the mid-century apartment building with 1,000 square ft. units is bull dozed to build a boring modern structure with "living" spaces 1/2 the size, at 2x the rent...

Preston and Simons Mortuary Riverside, CA.

© Mike Vega 2012

so i try to capture what interests me, in the way that i perceive it. this, to me, means using film photography.  for several reasons -- it's warmth, it's flaws, and the tactile experience of it. loading, composing, "metering" (more on that later...) adjusting, selecting cameras, lenses, film types, etc. i love all of it.

Preston and Simons Mortuary Riverside, CA.

© Mike Vega 2012

so, if any of this makes sense to you, welcome. if it does not, maybe someday it will, when every corner of every city in the country looks exactly like the next or last.