About JEH: A stroll down Melrose Ave in the sunny city of Los Angeles. I was meeting up with a good friend of mine that I met through Instagram a while back. His name is Jeh, and from time to time we meet with each other to catch up on life over espressos and some pretty delicious pastries. What we do after, is the fun part. I guess it’s called a photo walk. First, we meet up at various café’s around LA, converse, burn our tongues on hot cups of coffee, then hope to God a puffy croissant or something alike makes it feel better. We laugh, we wonder, then we’re off to explore. We choose a random destination, usually around the area we meet, and begin adding miles to our beat up vans. These photos in particular were all taken within ten minute walking distance from the Paul Smith store on Melrose. It goes to show, the many random, yet eye-catching things you can discover on a simple ten-minute stroll down Melrose with a good friend.
About Michael De La Madrid: My name is Michael De La Madrid. I enjoy coffee and breads. I’m that one guy sitting alone, one leg over the other, finding inspiration through social networks on my phone, aka scrolling Instagram and VSCO journals, while sipping a cortado, probably after I’ve taken a picture of it. I also like meeting new people, as well as new places; so please say hello if you run into me trying to get coffee somewhere in LA. I’m a simple man; the type of guy who never complicates things, especially life.
These photos are important to me because they document fragments of my life in and around Los Angeles. The inspiration for them comes from the immense population of creative’s that saturate the coffee shops and roam the grimy, yet beautiful art filled streets of Los Angeles. I have no idea where ill be in the future, where I might end up, or where I might reside later in life, but photos like these will always hold value to me. Each photo tells a story, paints a picture; each one is a time capsule. I love the places and things I’ve experienced. Experiences are what I live for, big or small. They help me grow as a human; they are the building blocks of the person I am today and who I’ll become tomorrow. Everything, and each person you meet, serve a purpose in helping you paddle upstream in this baffling, unsolved, and ever flowing river that is life.
Photographs by: Michael De La Madrid Instagram: @onethirteen