Airbrushed Signs East L.A.

Avui was another intense day of photographing the widespread custom of airbrushed signs in the Latino community of East Los Angles. There is so much to document and write about, but I have to remind myself that I am on vacation. If the day before yesterday I photographed custom street signs from the '60s and '70s, today was all about airbrushed street signs in a community that is now primarily immigrant. They have brought with them their tradition of airbrushing popular products on their store fronts. Their signs advertise food, cleaning products, and mix the religious with the profane. My guess is business owners find airbrushing an inexpensive alternative to neon or fluorescent signs. In either case, it is a marker of their cultural identity in a new country giving them in opportunity at success. Their businesses are bright, colorful, and unique in appearance. Aside from the airbrushed signs, I took shots of business fronts that just caught my eye for their rundown or interesting appeal and anything else in between I found alluring.

              My cousin called this the psychotic zombie piñata.

My father and my brothers used to come here to treat our asthma. It is so rundown now. Is Dr. Marshak still alive?

New friends who serenaded me with Vino Tinto by Estopa. 

With so much photographing, I had to grab a bite at King Taco. Taco al pastor and a sope of carne asada.