Rebirth of top photographers

Chapter 212 This is Los Angeles! (joint chapter)

It takes more than 10 hours to fly to Los Angeles.

This was the first time for Chen Pingsheng to sit on a plane for such a long time. In the past, he had only traveled for such a long time by train.

So he downloaded a lot of movies and novels to his tablet in advance, preparing to use them to pass the boring time.

I just finished working on Film Magazine two days ago, so I bought a plane ticket to Los Angeles.

He had already communicated with Shah, who was going to pick him up at the airport and take him for a walk to famous attractions after getting off the plane.

Exotic scenery always makes people curious, and Chen Pingsheng is no exception. He even took a camera and planned to take some photos.

But now, it’s time to put on your headphones and enjoy this rare time of flying in the clouds.

"call……"

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Pingsheng woke up slowly, squinted his eyes sleepily and looked around.

There was complete darkness outside the window. When he turned on his phone, the light on the screen made him feel a little stinging.

Only five hours had passed.

It was still a long time before the plane landed. Chen Pingsheng yawned and thought about it and planned to continue sleeping.

He didn't know why, but after just watching a two-hour movie, he felt extremely sleepy.

I wish I could just throw myself into bed and take a deep sleep.

It's a pity that there are only seats and no recliners.

Chen Pingsheng regretted not buying first class.

"The small farmer is conscious." He muttered, then put on the blanket sent by the stewardess and continued to sleep.

In his sleep, he seemed to see an increasingly dazzling light, rising gradually with the sea level.It was as dazzling as the day of birth, driving away the fatigue and coldness of the night, and making people feel warm from the heart.

As the warmth continued to increase, Chen Pingsheng was finally awakened and woke up from his deep sleep.

He stretched out his hand to rub his eyes, then slowly opened them and looked out the window.

Gold, it was dazzling gold. I don't know when they had flown across the hemisphere and reached the other side of the world.

Chen Pingsheng looked at the sea horizon in the distance. The sparkling waves were particularly vivid under the sunlight, like broken stars scattered in the sea.

He knew that he was about to arrive at his destination, Los Angeles, the second most economically developed city in the United States, the seat of Hollywood, and an area where countless refugees wanted to flock to live.

"Peng!"

Outside the airport, Shah opened the car door and got out of the car.Today she was wearing a white dress and a pair of white-framed glasses. She said with a smile on her face: "Welcome to Los Angeles! Chen!"

"Shahe!" Chen Pingsheng reached out and hugged her, then smiled: "Long time no see."

"Yeah, long time no see. Chen, you finally stopped being an otaku." Shah even said the word "otaku" in Chinese.

"Shahe, your Chinese has improved again." Chen Pingsheng looked surprised.

"Of course, Chen, your English is getting better and better. Your accent makes me even suspect that you have lived here since you were a child." Shah felt that the young man in front of him could always bring some surprises to him.

"And the figure, oh, it's great." Shah did not shy away from his preferences at all. He looked at Chen Pingsheng's muscle outline hidden under his shirt and gave it a big thumbs up.

"Let's go." Chen Pingsheng had to interrupt her to prevent her from saying something he couldn't resist.

Compared with the first meeting, Shah also relaxed a lot and seemed to be more comfortable because he was on his home court.

"Bang." After closing the car door, Chen Pingsheng asked, "So where should we go next?"

It's eight o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles, and there is a 15-hour time difference from the capital. Fortunately, Chen Pingsheng slept on the plane and is quite energetic now.

"Shall I take you around, such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or the Chinese Theater, or to Hermosa Beach?"

Shah made several suggestions.

"It's okay, Shah, just look at the arrangements. I've never been there anyway." Chen Pingsheng smiled and replied.

"Okay!" Shah spread his hands and put them on the steering wheel: "Let's go!"

Along the way, Chen Pingsheng kept looking at the streets outside the car window. The streets here are very neat, and the height of the houses is much lower than in China. Most of them are about one or two floors, and the density is not as good as in China.

But other than that, it's basically all shortcomings.

For example, among the homeless people lying wrapped in blankets on the street, there are white people, black people, and other people of color. The only ones missing are East Asians.

"What's going on?" Chen Pingsheng asked in confusion.

Shah took a look and felt helpless: "These are all homeless vagrants. People who are bankrupt, addicted to drugs, and whose lives are in a mess are all building bunks here."

"What about their lives?" Chen Pingsheng continued to ask.

"The government will give them a subsidy of US$950 every month." Shah looked at the vehicle in front and continued: "Although it is not much, it is enough for them to eat."

"Okay." Looking at it alone, this amount of money is quite a lot compared to domestically, but the difference in consumption levels means that the money cannot be spent to achieve domestic effects.

In first-tier cities in China, if you don't save money, you can rent a house with the same amount of money, eat meat every day, surf the Internet every day, and live a happy life.

But in Los Angeles, I can only buy some food to satisfy my hunger and lie down on the street to sleep.

This shows how high the cost of living here is.

And once you find a job, this subsidy will not be paid. Therefore, many people would rather live a disgraceful life and sleep on the street than find a job and give up this money.

Chen Pingsheng sighed in his heart that this was truly lying down, and then looked at other street scenes.

As he got closer to the city center, he found that there were more and more people wearing strange clothes on the street.

For example, pantyhose, stockings, bunny girls, and sexy underwear are on the street in turn. Many women are walking around in the street wearing only stockings and underwear.

Although the weather today is a bit stuffy, it is not hot at all. Chen Pingsheng can only sigh that this is really a beautiful scenery.

Just when he was seriously criticizing this popular trend, Shah suddenly said: "Does it look good?"

"It looks good, of course it looks good." After Chen Pingsheng answered, he withdrew his gaze and looked at her: "Do you often dress like this?"

His expression was very natural, as if he was simply admiring the beautiful scenery of urban beauties.

Shah raised his eyebrows: "No, I can't."

Chen Pingsheng couldn't help but look at her figure, and then suddenly thought about it in his mind, and instantly felt that the girls he had seen before had become tasteless and worthless.

"So why are they dressed like this?" he asked.

"Who knows, maybe it's career-related." Shah didn't say it too clearly, but Chen Pingsheng seemed to have guessed what she meant, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"This is America, Chen. It's different from China."

Following Shah's words, there were more and more urban buildings outside, becoming more and more dense, and the flow of people also increased significantly.

"There are Chinese, Africans, Jews, Indians, and people of all races here. Everyone has their own ideas and opinions, so this city is very chaotic." Shah sighed and said, "Every day There were marches, demonstrations, and shootings, as well as a lot of entertainment and extravagance.”

"Everyone dreams of the American dream of becoming famous overnight, and everyone is also burdened with countless debts. Maybe he becomes a billionaire overnight, or maybe he loses everything overnight."

"This is heaven and this is hell."

"This is Los Angeles, Chen."
-
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is one of the most famous urban attractions in the world.

After Chen Pingsheng and Shah got off the bus, they walked along the street and bought two hot dogs from a mobile vending cart on the street.

While eating a hot dog, Chen Pingsheng looked at the silver sculpture not far away.

It is a small spire supported by four female sculptures. The English words "Hollywood" can be seen around the spire. The overall shape is somewhat similar to the Eiffel Tower.

When you get here, you are on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Walking from here to another road, you can see the surging crowds. The ground here is paved with dark gray squares, with a five-pointed star inlaid on every other square.Each star is made of a terrazzo. Inside the pink star is the awardee's name engraved in bronze. Below this is a ring-shaped logo, representing the field where the awardee receives the star.

"This camera refers to the film industry." Shah introduced the difference to Chen Pingsheng.

"There are also televisions, gramophone records, microphones and masks. Each represents an industry, corresponding to television, records, radio and drama." Chen Pingsheng nodded, and suddenly saw something that Chinese people will never forget. name.

"Bruce Lee." Chen Pingsheng came to the star excitedly.

"Yes, Bruce Lee!" Shah pointed to the camera in his hand: "Do you want me to take a picture of you?"

"Of course!" Chen Pingsheng handed the camera to Shah, then stood there and took a pose.

Upon seeing this, Shah raised his camera high and took three pictures in a row.

Chen Pingsheng took the camera back, looked at the picture of himself and the stars in the photo, and thanked: "It's great, Shah, I like it very much."

"Chinese people can't reject Bruce Lee, just like Americans can't reject Schwarzenegger." Shah laughed.

"That's right." Chen Pingsheng nodded.

"Then let's go to the next place."

At the second stop, they came to Huaxia Theater, but even though it was called Huaxia Theater.But in fact, this theater was built by the "King of Theaters" Sid Grumman. There are two giant stone lions waiting in front of the theater, and the copper roof is raised by two giant coral-red pillars. It is the scene of many legendary films. premiere venue.

Most of the objects and materials in this building came from China, such as temple bells, pagodas, stone tengu, etc. Although Chen Pingsheng didn't know much about this style, he was really shocked after seeing it with his own eyes.

Then they visited other places, such as the Dolby Theater and Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall was completed in 03. Looking across the street, the building seems to be surrounded by flexible steel. The outside of all buildings is made of curved stainless steel, which is very sci-fi. breath.

"But it's better to come here at night. The lights here are very beautiful." Shah drank Coke and leaned against the car door with Chen Pingsheng.

"Well, it's really good. This kind of building must be difficult to build." With such a complex structure and curved building surface, Chen Pingsheng felt that the designer was really a genius and so bold.

"Well, it took a long time to build." Although Shah doesn't often stay in Los Angeles, he still lives here for a certain period of time every year.

For example, from June to August, there are often art exhibitions held in Los Angeles during this time.

"Speaking of the Los Angeles International Art Exhibition, what works are there?" Chen Pingsheng only had a general understanding of this, and the specific details were not clear yet.

"There are many. This is a large-scale exhibition. There will be art, photography, sculpture, inkjet painting and other art forms, as well as installation art, so there are many people coming from all over the world."

"I see, it's going to start in two days. Do I need to make any other preparations?" He drank the Coke in his hand and found that there were no trash cans around.

"No, just follow me and participate in the exhibition. Your works will be displayed at the entrance of the photography area, very eye-catching."

"That's really good." Chen Pingsheng knows that in this kind of exhibition, everyone usually only looks at the works at the entrance and exit, and the works in the middle are seen faster, because people's energy is limited, especially in this kind of exhibition. at large exhibitions.There are so many works that it can be dazzling to see. If you don’t choose carefully, you may not be able to finish them all in one day.

Ordinary people will not spend two days traveling to the same place to see similar things.

"Chen, will your new work be published soon?" Shah suddenly asked.

"Yes." Chen Pingsheng replied: "Just after the exhibition, it will be officially published, so I will stay here for a few more days to meet some critics."

"It's a pity that there are too many photos of your works this time." Shah was quite regretful. She had also received Chen Pingsheng's new photo album before. Because of the cooperative relationship between the two parties, the gallery could obtain his works in advance for simultaneous exhibition. .

However, there are too many photos of Chen Pingsheng this time, and more than 100 photos are really not a suitable number for the exhibition.

But Shah still did not give up the idea of ​​exhibition. After thinking for a while, she suddenly said: "Why don't you select some selected photos. After your album is released, the gallery will follow up and hold an exhibition to see how it goes."

Logically speaking, this kind of thing is said by curators to photographers, and in addition to being a gallery manager, Shah is also a curator herself, so she has become Chen Pingsheng’s friend since the last Crow’s exhibition. Curator in charge.

Therefore, she hopes that every work can be successfully curated to help Chen Pingsheng gain a reputation and make the gallery more famous.

"Okay, Shah, I'll go back and choose photos." Chen Pingsheng did not refuse.

After discussing work, the two went to the beach again.

The city of Los Angeles is very close to the beach, bathing in the warm sunshine, then walking on the beach and watching the enthusiastic crowds around.

Some are dancing, some are skateboarding, and some are singing.

Everyone is very immersed in entertainment and looks nothing like those homeless people.

For some reason, Chen Pingsheng thought again of those people lying on the streets in the suburbs of Los Angeles, with numb faces and no light in their eyes.

This is the United States, an extremely polarized country.

Walking on the coastline, watching the golden sunshine breaking on the waves rolling onto the beach, Chen Pingsheng suddenly felt that he could make a work for these people.

A yellow man shoots the daily lives of a group of white and black people on the streets of the United States. This kind of work sounds very interesting.

But again, keep it safe.

In a foreign land, you can't put your own safety at will, so Chen Pingsheng doesn't plan to go to too remote places.

"Chen, Chen?" Shah gently shook his hand in front of his eyes, and Chen Pingsheng came back to his senses.

"Oh, Shah, what's wrong?"

"Chen, you scared me. Are you thinking about something?" Shah held his arm with concern.

"No, I just suddenly thought of a photography idea." Chen Pingsheng said.

"What idea fascinates you so much?" Shah asked him.

"Um, do you remember the homeless man we saw at that time? I want to take a series of photos based on this theme." Chen Pingsheng slowly expressed his thoughts.

"It is indeed a photographer." Shah raised the corner of his mouth: "But you are late, Chen, someone has already got there first."

"What do you mean? Did someone film it?"

"Of course, Jeff Lehr, who has taken relevant photos to record the changes in homeless people over the past five years, just opened the exhibition a few days ago."

"Okay." Chen Pingsheng was a little regretful. Although there are many themes in this world, there are more people with ideas. After all, he doesn't live here, so he can't follow and shoot every day.

Therefore, there is a photographer who insists on taking pictures of homeless people for five years. Naturally, he loses the motivation to take pictures.

"Okay, Chen, don't think about photography when you come to Los Angeles. You need to relax and have fun now."

Shah looked into his eyes and suddenly smiled mysteriously.

…………

"Is this what you call entertainment?" Chen Pingsheng shouted at Shah in front of him at the top of his lungs.

The two of them were currently in the bar, dancing to the intense dance music and the noisy crowd.

Chen Pingsheng twisted his body, but his dancing posture was like an old disco man. For him, this was really too challenging, more strenuous than asking him to lift iron.

Opposite him, Shah twisted his waist to his heart's content, supporting Chen Pingsheng with one hand and stroking his hair with the other.The crystal fragments on her clothes kept flashing different colors under the light. The undulating curves and blurred expression looked extremely charming.

When the two of them finished dancing and sat at the bar drinking, Shah joked: "Chen, you are simply worse at dancing than my grandpa."

Chen Pingsheng smiled bitterly: "Sorry, I haven't practiced before."

"It's okay, everyone has a first time." Shah drank a few glasses of wine, his face remained calm, and his eyes were always sober.

Chen Pingsheng couldn't help but yawned. After she noticed it, he said, "Let's go, Chen. It's time for you to go back to the hotel and rest."

"Yeah, I'm definitely a little tired." Chen Pingsheng, who had no time to spare this day, took a taxi with her and headed straight to Beverly Hills. The hotel she booked was in the most prosperous wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles.

When Chen Pingsheng saw this street, he immediately laughed.

Shah asked with some confusion: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly thought of a game in which there was a man named Franklin who lived here." Chen Pingsheng said, and then compared the scene in front of him with the game scene in his memory.

"It matches perfectly." After Chen Pingsheng finished speaking, the vehicle arrived at the door of the hotel.

"Chen, have a good rest. We'll see you tomorrow." Shah said goodbye to him.

"You too, don't forget to send me a message when you arrive, otherwise I will worry." Chen Pingsheng spoke loudly, and the driver in the front seat could hear it.

"Of course." Shah said and closed the car door. Chen Pingsheng carried his luggage, watched the car gradually move away, turned around and walked into the hotel he booked.

(End of this chapter)