Graffiti (Old Belmont Tunnel, Los Angeles)

Back in 2004, and really before that even, I used to go out and photograph graffiti. It wasn't anything professional, just a point and shoot digital camera. I had a few spots I would hit up every now and then and the Belmont Tunnel was one of them. It was located at the intersection of Lucas Ave where Glendale and Beverly Blvd begin and at w1st and w2nd Street (sounds more confusing than it is). A couple of years later, actually sooner than that, the city decided to sell it and tear it down and build an apartment complex on the yard. There's a good L.A. Times article about it here and how they wanted to turn it into a legal paint yard.

I don't even remember how I came upon it, if I looked it up or just stumbled on it (which is unlikely because it'd be too much of a coincidence). It was kind of a hassle to get to the bottom because it was fenced off and the rest of it was more or less the ruins of the old tunnel. Concrete stairs, missing rails that ended abruptly, slick grass and on top of that the first time I went with my friend there was this really vicious looking dog following us. But once you got to the bottom there was alot of good graffiti and graffiti artists painting freely.

Here are a few of the pictures I took that day in November of 2004 before it was torn down. The link takes you to my Picasa album with all the pictures and more graffiti.