Inglewood Takeover

The corner takeovers don't happen as often or scheduled as they used to, and it's been a busy summer, so I haven't been able to photograph many, but when it does happen at a decent hour and I'm here, there's nothing easier or more interesting to photograph. I grab my camera, run out the door half a block to the corner, and try and make as many interesting photos as I can before the police come and get traffic moving again. Sometimes the takeovers last only a couple minutes, sometimes they last up to 20 minutes. This was a longer one, which afforded me some time to try some different things and look for a couple photos I haven't gotten before. It's hard not to just focus on the cars spinning wildly around in front of you, and also a challenge to make interesting photos of them that go beyond just one good photograph. I'm also trying to get past the action to the people and social aspect of the takeovers, but it's going to take time and I just haven't had much opportunity to pursue it yet.

I appreciate the ease and fun of photographing this. It always feels good to be in such a scene and to just be able to walk around trying to make good photos without too much agenda or stress. The biggest stress here is just watching the cars to make sure nothing goes wrong as they whip around the human circle by a foot or even inches. Hopefully nothing wrong ever happens while I'm there, but there certainly are incidents, as there's bound to be, that happen during some of these takeovers. I just do what I can to mitigate risk and to enjoy the show. Here's some of my favorites from a takeover a couple weeks ago: