Two Jordan's in Watts

Occasionally, if I'm early to wherever I'm headed or, better yet, on the road without a schedule, I'll get off the freeway or make a turn off my path to try to find something new. 

In October, when headed to El Segundo to see one of my favorite movies at the Old Town Music Hall, I exited the freeway in Watts. The Watts Towers were my destination but they were closed that day, instead I drove around and was pleased to find not one but two Jordan's restaurants. 

I'll be back to visit the Towers again one of these days.

since 1942, sadly the cafe closed in 2010 and remains vacant

after dark

1926 Orpheum Theatre

1927 Tower Theatre

1930 Eastern Columbia Building

Downtown Los Angeles 

1927 United Artists Building, now the Ace Hotel + Theatre at the Ace Hotel

All photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, 2015.

All photographs taken the evening of the 7th Annual Night on Broadway.

Mystery Film: A Love Story

I am always up for the mystery film challenge. I love to come across old and expired film and shoot it through one of my cameras. I've had fantastic results (with one lackluster exception), and I'm happy to save film that someone may think is junk and throw away. 

The anticipation of seeing how a mystery roll will develop is quite exciting. 

Over a year ago, I loaded one of my Kodak Brownie cameras with a roll of mystery film I had gotten from a friend. Its origins were unknown -- no box, no expiration date, just a sealed roll of Agfa 50 120 film from who knows where, dying to be shot. I carried the camera around with me for a while, then it got shuffled through the rotation and ended up on the shelf for several months.

Last month I shot the last three frames on the roll and got developed and printed. Here are the some of the results:

2011 © Monika Seitz Vega

2011 © Monika Seitz Vega

2011 © Monika Seitz Vega

2011 © Monika Seitz Vega

Looking into my stash of mystery film, I noticed another identical roll to this one... I can't wait to see what the other Agfa roll turns out like!