All right, best street photography locations in LA.

Sleepy Santa Monica out here today. Got this marine layer. A little bit of light, but yeah, a little gloomy out here. It’s all good.

Let’s break this down like this.

LA is just so massive that it’s impossible to cover it all. So to keep it simple, I’m going to tell you the good little hot spots from my experience.

And to keep things interesting, I’m going to tell you which neighborhoods I think Daido Moriyama, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander would photograph in.

Then at the end, I’ll give you my personal recommendations for some more local hot spots where you won’t see as many tourists and can still get some nice photos that might be a little more unique.

THE MAIN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CORRIDOR

If you’re looking at a map, basically look at the area from the beach all the way east to downtown LA.

That’s a huge area.

But if you want the bang-for-your-buck locations with the most things to see and the most people, I’d look at:

Santa Monica.

Venice.

Beverly Hills.

Beverly Grove.

West Hollywood.

Hollywood.

Koreatown.

Westlake.

Downtown LA.

Chinatown.

Just pick one of those.

You’re going to be set.

From my experience, Koreatown, Westlake, and downtown are probably some of the best if you specifically want a lot of people roaming around.

But LA is just so big.

I know there are plenty of other awesome places to take photos. You just can’t get everywhere.

I’m only speaking from my experience.

WHERE WOULD DAIDO MORIYAMA SHOOT?

Where would Daido Moriyama shoot?

I think Daido would shoot downtown LA and the Santa Monica Pier.

The Santa Monica Pier is the kind of place where you have people, signs, light, texture, tourists, shadows, the ocean, and all this stuff colliding together.

Then there’s downtown LA.

If you want the most “city” feeling you can get in LA, it’s got to be downtown.

So that’s where I think Daido would shoot.

WHERE WOULD LEE FRIEDLANDER SHOOT?

Lee Friedlander is different.

When I look at Lee’s work, I see a little bit more tranquility and a lot of signage.

I see a lot of signs.

So I could see him shooting anywhere where there are a bunch of interesting signs and stuff overlapping in the frame.

Melrose Avenue.

Fairfax Avenue.

La Brea.

Wilshire for sure.

Especially the Mid-Wilshire area.

Hollywood too.

Hollywood has tons of signs.

There are just so many streets in LA with these old, classic, cool signs.

And you’ve still got people walking around, so you’re going to get that nice mix of people, signs, reflections, buildings, and all the other stuff going on.

That’s where I think Lee would be living.

And look at these damn squirrels.

The other day I got about three inches away from one with my camera and the little thing attacked me.

Took his claws out, did this little chirp, and got me right on the finger.

Kind of hurt a little bit.

I scared the squirrel.

WHERE WOULD GARRY WINOGRAND SHOOT?

Now Garry Winogrand.

I think Garry needs as many people as possible.

A lot of people and a lot of characters.

If I were Garry, I’d probably be in Venice.

I’d be in Hollywood.

I’d be in downtown LA.

And maybe Koreatown and Westlake.

Those are the kinds of neighborhoods where you’ve got a lot of people and a lot happening around you.

So those would probably be my five for Winogrand.

All right. I’m going to get a quick coffee.

Randy’s has some pretty solid coffee.

LOCAL SPOTS: WESTWOOD

All right, so where would I go for the local hot spots without as many tourists?

Like I said, LA is massive, so there are a lot of these.

But my first recommendation, if you want more of an urban vibe with tons of people, would be Westwood.

Westwood is probably my number one recommendation.

You’ve got UCLA over there.

You’ve got the hospital.

You’ve got the college campus.

You’ve got people working.

You’ve got people going to school.

You’ve got people moving around constantly.

There’s also a ton of food because all those people have to eat somewhere.

But it doesn’t feel like one of the big tourist destinations.

Go there for four, five, six hours and just keep walking around.

Walk around the UCLA campus too.

Beautiful campus.

It basically feels like a giant park.

You’re going to have a great time and you’re going to have plenty of opportunities for photographs.

Westwood is my number one recommendation.

THE SOUTH BAY BEACH CITIES

My second local hot spot would be the coast farther south.

Manhattan Beach.

Hermosa Beach.

Redondo Beach.

All those places are going to be awesome.

You’re going to see more of the local beach life.

Surfing.

Skating.

People walking around.

Manhattan Beach feels a little more upscale.

Hermosa and Redondo have a little different vibe.

Redondo has the pier and you’ve got a ton of people walking around that area.

So yeah, you really can’t go wrong with those beach neighborhoods.

SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD

Another little local hot spot I’d recommend is Santa Monica Boulevard.

One stretch I’ve walked many times is heading east from around Sepulveda toward Century City.

That stretch isn’t incredibly long, but parts of it feel like you’re entering a different world.

LA has a lot of places like that.

You’ll be walking and suddenly the entire vibe of the neighborhood changes.

There’s older stuff.

Interesting signage.

People walking around.

Different buildings.

Then you keep going and suddenly the buildings start getting taller and there’s newer development.

That whole stretch is super cool.

GRIFFITH PARK

Then you’ve got the classic, Griffith Park.

Griffith Park is massive.

Beautiful views.

When you get up around the observatory, you can see the city.

Obviously the observatory itself gets tourists.

But start hiking farther away from it and the crowds start thinning out.

Keep going up into the park and you’ve got great photography potential.

You get to see the city from above.

You’ve got the mountains.

You’ve got the city.

You’ve got the Hollywood sign.

You’ve got the landscape.

So Griffith Park is definitely worth exploring beyond just the observatory.

PALOS VERDES

Another local kind of vibe is Palos Verdes.

It’s farther away from a lot of the places tourists usually visit, and it almost feels like its own little thing.

There are all these places where you can pull off.

There are parks.

You can walk by the water.

There are little trails and spots where you can take photographs.

This is much more of a chill location.

You’re not going there because you want thousands of people running around.

You’re going there for the scenery and the environment.

PASADENA AND USC

Pasadena could be good too.

Pasadena has a different feeling from the central LA neighborhoods.

It’s a little more upscale in some areas, but there’s definitely photography potential.

Another area I’d look at is around USC.

You’ve got museums and venues around there that bring people into the area.

But once you get a couple blocks away from those places, the tourist traffic drops off.

You’re still relatively close to downtown, so there’s plenty happening.

WESTLAKE

And then there’s one last recommendation.

Westlake.

This might actually be one of the most interesting places to do photography if you want something that feels completely local.

Look around the MacArthur Park area and the surrounding neighborhood.

There’s a ton happening.

People everywhere.

Shops everywhere.

Vendors everywhere.

It’s a wild neighborhood.

I’ve photographed there before.

For me personally, there’s a little too much drama sometimes.

Now I might go there every once in a while if I’m really feeling myself.

You definitely want to stay aware of your surroundings and be respectful when you’re photographing people anywhere you’re unfamiliar with.

But purely in terms of visual potential, Westlake has a lot going on.

GET OUTSIDE THE OBVIOUS LOCATIONS

That’s really the bigger point here.

When people think about street photography in Los Angeles, everybody thinks about the obvious places.

Hollywood.

Venice.

Santa Monica Pier.

Downtown LA.

And those places are great.

But LA is enormous.

You can go outside those areas and find completely different environments.

That’s one of the best things about photographing here.

You could shoot Santa Monica one day.

Walk around Westwood another day.

Go to Koreatown.

Go downtown.

Go to Manhattan Beach.

Go to Griffith Park.

Go to Westlake.

Every place is going to give you something different.

If you’re photographing like Winogrand, go where the people are.

If you’re looking at the world more like Friedlander, start looking for signs, reflections, objects, and all that visual chaos.

If you’re thinking more like Daido, look for the city, light, texture, atmosphere, and whatever grabs you.

Or forget all of that and just go wherever looks interesting to you.

LA is massive.

Just pick a neighborhood.

Start walking.

Take photos.

Hopefully you found this useful.

Peace.