2001 | Diana Ming Jeong Photography

Shangri LA Hotel – 2001

April 12th, 2009

This is the Shangri LA in Santa Monica. I took this photo circa 2001. I have a tendency to not know the dates of photos if I shoot film. So anyways, this was shot with a Holga, with Ilford film, maybe 400. Afterwards, I walked inside, walked some of the halls, and the atrium/patio/gardens. It was exactly how I had imagined the settings for some of the Francesa Lia Block novels as they were based in LA about fairies and creatures of the like. So, I found out that it is closed now for renovations, and my friend’s friend’s family actually owns the place. When he told me that, I realized I never posted this photo for any one to see. Now, here it is. The Shangri LA. I love this place. I cannot wait until it opens again.

Categories: Photography | Tags: 2001, Beach, Black & White, Fairies, Los Angeles, Santa Monica | No Comments

Santa Cruz

October 2nd, 2001

Summer vacations were mostly spent in LA going to Disneyland or Reno visiting the arcades. Sometimes, we would drive to the other side of the mountain on the 17 to go to Santa Cruz. My childhood was always about imagination and amusement. Here is Santa Cruz on an empty fall day. I handprinted this photo myself on color paper.

Categories: Minolta SRT101 | Tags: 2001, Amusement Parks, Santa Cruz | No Comments

Dragons in Manhattan

October 1st, 2001

This is one of my first black and white prints that I perfected and love. This image is actually a scanned slide photograph of the print. I’ll fix it and repost it to take out the light glare. The title is from a book I read about this merry go round, which was actually in San Francisco.