Down Rodeo
While in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for years: roll down Rodeo Drive with Rage Against The Machine’s “Down Rodeo” pumping out the stereo. If you’re of a certain age, I know you’ve always wanted to do that, too; just admit it.
I'm rollin’ down Rodeo with a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown-skinned man
Since their grandparents bought one
Before you congratulate me, no, I didn’t have the nerve to do it the way you always envisioned. The windows were tightly closed. And, I was driving an Audi, which I’d just washed. And, well, I’m white. I actually blended.
I drove into the residential area of Beverly Hills, to see what it was like: it looked pretty much how it looked in Beverly Hills 90210. (If you’re of a certain age, I know you watched 90210; Just admit it.) People smiled and waved at me as though I were their neighbor.
Overdressed store employees lurk just inside or just outside the empty shops, passing judgement on passersby, deciding whether they are worthy.
On Rodeo Drive, the guy washing the windows wears a suit and tie.
This statue stands in the middle of the road at an intersection.
I’ve posted more Rodeo Drive images in this Flickr set.
Rodeo Drive’s shopping district, a mere three blocks in length, is lined with astonishingly expensive, pretentious stores, many with names you’d recognize. The thin crowd is mixed between shoppers and tourists.
I saw the place in black-and-white, so I shot Ilford XP2.