Venice Beach has just turned 120, and the locals and visitors are reflecting on what makes this iconic neighborhood of Los Angeles so special, and why the time test continues to resist.
While the sun puts on its famous promenade, throwing a golden tone through palm trees and waves, it is clear why Venice is still one of the most legendary destinations in southern California.
Relaxed, creative and constantly evolving, Venice combines the culture of the beach relaxed with energy from the great city.
It is a place where Bohemians, artists, technological workers and athletes cross.
Every year, millions of tourists visit this vibrant Rincón de los Angeles for their beach, promenade and unforgettable atmosphere.
“Venice occupies a special place in American culture, even with her rough reality,” said photographer Karen Ballard, who lives there.
“It has served as a backdrop for a myriad of films, commercials and television programs, returning to car races for children by Charlie Chaplin in 1914, to the story of Steve Martin in 1991, and the recent Greta Gerwig box office success.”
Ballard has been documenting Venice for 15 years. His connection with the place dates back to 1986, when he visited his 17th birthday.
“The whole place, Los Angeles in general, but Venice in particular, was alive,” he said.
“It was full of energy, sun, youth, the ocean, all the things that attract people here … although I thought that Venice was very strange, and it is still, the seed was planted so that one day I could move here.”
Ballard began his career in Washington, DC, covering international news and policies. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s to work in the film industry.
“I moved to Los Angeles knowing that a personal documentary project in Venice would begin,” he said.
“I wanted to work on something among movie tasks, something that I could slowly develop, in my own time.”
His photos capture both the electricity of the beach and his quiet and quiet moments, often at dawn or at sunset.
The celebration of July 4 of this year marked the 120th anniversary of the Venice Foundation in 1905.
Abbot Kinney, its founder, dreamed of recreating the charm of Venice, Italy, next to the Coast of California.
“He had this great idea to create a recreational artistic patio next to the sea, his 'Venice of America' for Los Angeles residents, complete with channels and gondolas,” said Ballard.
“There was a dock that opened that day, including stores, a dance hall, a roller coaster and even a hot salt water pool.
That dock burned 20 years later, but the spirit and its vision remain, including some of the original channels. “
France to prohibit smoking on beaches, parks, bus shelters since Sunday
Venice was attached to Los Angeles in 1926, but has always maintained a strong and independent identity.
For a long time it has been a shelter for artists and creatives, something that you can still see today in its murals, galleries and street art.
“Venice has hosted all kinds of artists: Ed Ruscha, who is like the artist of the par excellence at this time; John Baldesari; (Jean-Michel) Basquiat. They all made Venice his home,” said Ballard.
“The science fiction writer Ray Bradbury lived here. The famous furniture manufacturers, the Eames, made their home in Venice in a moment … the Beatniks lived here in the 60s, and that is where Jim Morrison created the doors.”
A Morrison mural still gives the Paseo MarÃtimo, where emerging musicians and artists join the scene.
Venice is also home to two main subcultures: bodybuilding and skateboard.
Muscle Beach, the famous outdoor gym, has been here since the 1950s.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigeno trained there.
The nearby skatepark of Venice, opened in 2009, attracts skaters around the world.
“Today's skatepark is one of the main attractions,” said Ballard. “People come from all over the world to skate on the skatepark here now.”
But Venice has quickly changed during the last decade.
“The last decade has really seen a great gentrification,” Ballard said. “Google moved here in 2011, and that was the beginning of turning Venice over his head.”
“Abbot Kinney Boulevard, named for its founding father, is the main road that crosses the city. Today that street has changed completely and is full of boutique stores, high -end retailers and fashion restaurants.”
The change has brought tension. As wealth moved, the rentals shot and the reference t -shirt companies began to close.
“There were some long -standing businesses that had to close because the rent shot in the last decade, and that created a lot of tension among the locals,” said Ballard.
Things were especially difficult during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Venice has often discouraged the people who landed on the promenade, taking a patch of grass or colliding in a corner of the street at night,” he said.
“But during the pandemic, the promenade literally became a camp.”
The tents aligned almost all the stretch of two miles. Many stayed for months.
“Finally, about 200 people did not have temporary shelters or hotels,” said Ballard. “But from the summer of 2020 to 2021, especially at night, it might seem that he had entered an episode of the twilight zone.”
In January, forest fires near Los Angeles added another scare.
“I received a call from a neighbor asking if I had seen the smoke from the neighborhood of Palisades around 1 pm,” said Ballard.
“I immediately grabbed my cameras and went up to my roof and I could see the flames on the slope already … honestly was one of the most scary things I had seen.”
In spite of everything, gentrification, forest fires and a housing crisis, the spirit of Venice lasts.
“One of the things that makes Venice so special is the community and the locals living here,” said Ballard.
“It's a small place.”
With almost 40,000 people living in just three square miles, the neighborhood has built a strong sense of pride and resilience.
“Somehow, the community adapts and inevitably advances,” said Ballard.
(CNN)
Read too Main stories OF Nigerian tribe