From LAOKAY.com:

When they said that California would fall into the sea, they weren’t kidding! Well, at least that was the case of San Pedro, California. In 1929 a sizeable section of land in the southern tip of San Pedro began to unexplainably slip into the sea. The 600 block of Paseo Del Mar began moving seaward in 1929 and continued to slip until the mid 1930s. Movement was measured as high as 11 inches a day. Due to quick action, all but two of the houses on the seaward side of the street were moved before toppling into the sea. The eastern section of Point Fermin Park was lost and the entire area is very unstable, yet not moving at the present time. Geologists have termed this phenomenon as a “slump” and this area has been featured in many geological studies and books. This geological mystery also occurs about 4 or 5 miles up the coast from this spot at Portuguese Bend in Rancho Palos Verdes. The Portuguese Bend Slide Area is still moving and slipping into the sea. Sunken City is closed by chain link fencing, but may still be viewed at the south end of Pacific Avenue or the east end of Pt. Fermin Park at Paso Del Mar and Gaffey Street.

Photos by Lee Fenyves and Laina Adler.

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The 3.5 hour bus ride was easy when you´re tired and you have mangos to eat on the way. I slept for most of the ride but was able to catch a glimpse of some rolling green hills and wide open spaces through my tinted window.I arrived in the Centro and immediately took a taxi to Geriba beach. I put myself up at the Blue Marlin on a recommendation from a friend in Rio. The place is nice, clean and quiet, just what I needed.

I´m a short block away from the beach and that is pretty much where I´ve been spending my time. On the way to Ferradurinha Beach one day I encountered this crab. He was just walking along the path wall and didn’t seem to mind me taking his picture.

Ferradurinha Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been on. The water was clear, was practically void of people which made for quiet and peaceful days at the beach.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Rio is a city of contrasts, and Lapa epitomizes that statement. Here, the aqueduct, built in the middle of the 18th century, lies against two of Rio’s most recognizable modern buildings in the Financial District. The pyramid shaped building reminds me of the large structure in ‘the future’ from the movie “The Time Machine” from the 60′s.

After we shot the aqueduct we headed up to the Tijuca National Park. At the top you get an amazing vista of Rio, here is my attempt to show the scope in a six image, stitched panoramic. The view starts on the north end of Rio with Sugarloaf Mtn. rising up, and ends on the Corcovado (Christ Statue).

Our last day of shooting had a call time of 5:30 am so we could catch sunrise over the rocks and beach at the point where Copacabana and Ipanema beaches meet. As we headed south towards the point, the sun was a huge, bright orange disc just over the horizon. By the time we got out to our spot the sun wasn’t quite as huge as it had appeared minutes prior, but it looked pretty spectacular.

Our photographer, David Stoecklein making it happen.

After the beach we headed back to the Selaron Stairs to get some of the early morning light. When we were there earlier in the week the sun had gotten to high in the sky for us to shoot. Selaron, the artist was there working so we asked if he’d want to talk to a couple of cute girls, of course he couldn’t say no.

Our last location of the day and the shoot took place in an antique market in Lapa. The market ran for about three long blocks and had everything from old stopwatches to twin lens reflex cameras circa 1960, toys, paintings, you name it, it was there.

Now that the photo shoot is over I am off to Buzios for a few days to sit on the beach and do nothing…except read my book, “2012″ by Daniel Pinchbeck, sleep, soak in the sun and swim in the ocean.

We worked with a lot of crew on the shoot but two people in particular we couldn’t have worked without, Walter, our driver and Ajus, our security guard. Walter spoke great English and had a great sense of humor. Ajus, a firefighter and ex-cop, spoke no English, but did an amazing job keeping us safe at every location. Thanks guys!

Walter

Ajus

]]> http://www.visualtexture.net/2007/12/03/rio-days-6-7/feed/ 1 http://www.visualtexture.net/2007/12/01/rio-day-5/ http://www.visualtexture.net/2007/12/01/rio-day-5/#comments Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:51:20 +0000 leefenvisual http://leefenvisual.wordpress.com/2007/12/01/rio-day-5/ Tonight it’s all about the graffiti. Here in Rio the graffiti is world class and is on the same level as some of the most prolific street artists in the USA or around the world.

In Rio there are two different types of graffiti:

The messy tags that gangs use to mark their territory.

And the ornate and creative street art developed to beautify neighborhoods. It’s funny, the messy taggers will no doubt cover most available space on a wall to let you know they’re around, but you never see taggers messing up the good graffiti art.

In the town of Santa Teresa wall art is prevalent and viewable around most bends in the road. A slice of the good stuff is represented here.

Rio just happens to be a giant canvas so no matter what neighborhood you happen to be in you’ll more than likely see talent on every block. I spent part of the day Saturday in Lapa, a town just down the hill from Santa Teresa. Lucky for me I found some more wall art that was equally inspiring…

An electrical box and light post just outside of my hotel.

In Rio every VW bus is white, if it’s not all white, it’s white with an advertisement on the side. Walking north up Ipanema Beach I found this one. I looks like it’s from the same artist who did the electrical box above.

And last but not least, a peaceful girl meditating with the sound of the ocean nearby.

Around the next bend we found ourselves face to face with the waterfall.

We spent about an hour here shooting various senarios, the crew as usual was hard at work.

The clouds were still around and we struggled to find good light, but leave it to David to make it all work. His photographs today were outstanding, a fine addition to the JanSport photo library.

On our way to the next location on the ranch, we happened upon the ranch owner, Geraldo, and his horse. Here he’s giving us the “everything is good” sign.

After shooting in one canyon for a bit, we moved into the adjacent canyon to catch up with the light that was trying to fight it’s way through the pea soup above. We found a hike to send the models on, but because the hike was far away from where David was going to be shooting I suggested I go along. We found ourselves atop a rolling green hill with an amazing vista, the only thing is the fog moved into the canyon and didn’t provide us with much of a vista. I snapped this pic from behind a tree while the models were being photographed.

The day grew darker eventually so it was time for us to leave the ranch and head back to Rio. Exhausted and hungry, our ranch host Geraldo took us out to his favorite local joint for some beans, rice, meat and potatoes. Another delicious Brazilian meal, good beers and laughs.

Soon after we were back on our van and enjoyed a sleepy ride back into Rio.

The ranch itself was pretty spectacular, but when we rounded this one bend to see the granite slabs in front of us we were all in awe. It reminded me of Yosemite, the way Half Dome’s sheer face changes color in the afternoon light.

Today was our first official shoot day. We spent the morning at the Jardim Botanico then boarded a ferry for the hour long ride to Paquetá Island. The models were great and the day was overall a success. The sun peeked in and out most of the day. When the sun wasn’t out the light was very flat and made shooting difficult, but when the sun came out it was magical. Our photographer, David Stoecklein, is a pro when it comes to making it work even when the conditions aren’t the best. Below is a sampling of some shots I snapped over the course of the day.

The view from my room at the Ipanema Plaza.

Jardim Botanico

Sunset from ferry.

A 180 degree turn to the north and you see this.

Rio is a city of contrast, the wealthy and the poor, this is evident by the the witnessing the skyscrapers and apartment buildings right along side the stacked housing of the “favelas”, slums.  Another major contrast are the urban areas that butt right up against the sheer granite monoliths that surround the city. The view from the top of this hill was fascinating and really made for a peaceful moment in a city who’s energy is constantly in flux. 

Our next stop was the neighborhood of Santa Teresa, an artist and bohemian area of Rio. The graffiti painted walls, curvy streets and colorful people made this a great end to our day. Below is a sampling of what I think is going to end up being my favorite part of town.

We then found ourselves in front of the Selaron Stairs. These stairs are made of ceramic tile, all hand painted by the local artist Selaron. The stairs are constantly changing, Selaron adds to his work daily and is just as colorful as the stairs themselves.

On our way back to our hotel, while waiting at a red light I snapped this pic, it’s blurry, but hilarious.

The noodle house is at 163 1st Avenue, just north of St. Marks Place. A small hole in the wall eatery, the down home cooking is tasty and worth the wait for a spot at the counter so you can watch the cooks work up their magic. One of the dishes I had were the steamed pork buns.

I highly recommend checking this place out if you’re in the neighborhood.

I left NYC and headed to LA for a wedding the next day, on my way I snapped this pic while flying over Utah.

Jermaine and Chino were signing limited edition posters in the booth, here it is:

Jermaine and I got to sit for a bit and chat about posters, politics and life. He’s currently focusing on his fine art and dreaming up wild ideas that will no doubt shock and inspire.