Between Orange County to the south and Ventura County to the north there lies a stretch of sandy California beaches that are among the world’s most famous coastal playgrounds. If the names Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu don’t ring a bell, you’ve most likely been hiding from popular culture for the last half century.
As a photographer who began taking pictures in his early teens, Landau’s been fortunate to combine his photographic talent with his passion for travel. “But Los Angeles is my home and whenever I’m feeling the need for a new experience, I grab my camera and head for a nearby beach.”
Many of L.A.’s touted tourist attractions, the Hollywood Sign, the Walk of Fame, Chinatown, Olvera Street, Rodeo Drive and others can be let downs for visitors with high expectations for something magical and revealing of this city’s offbeat character. “But the beach, any beach, is never a downer.” Landau says. No matter the weather or time of year there’s always something of interest happening.” It’s where locals and visitors, sun worshippers and free thinkers, bicyclists and body builders, families and loners, vendors and shoppers, surfers and skaters can convene with one another and nature at the far western edge of the continental United States.
“I prefer to not pre-determine what I might find on any given outing so I can be more open to what I actually do encounter. The weather, time of day and my mood may be factors as to whether I shoot people in action or more scenic oriented imagery. Whatever it turns out to be, a trip to the beach in Southern California is rarely disappointing.”
