Photographing Gates in the Hollywood Hills was a passion of mine in the mid 1990’s.  I lived in the Los Feliz section of the Hollywood Hills  when I first moved to Los Angeles.  I was so enamored  by the gorgeous gates I’d see on  my evening walks,  that I thought I’d try photographing them with an old canon camera I got from my sister. One after another, my collection grew. Then I thought, why not publish a book?

As I talked to people about my idea, the reasons for NOT publishing a book were many: you need the home owners permission, you need the architects permission, you need the designers permission, coffee table books don’t make money anymore, they no longer make black and white film,  everything is digital now.  The list goes on, and the photographs get older.   But what I find fascinating is that every time I pull these images out and look at them, they’re still exciting. There’s also something very refreshing about seeing these images in Black and White. It reminds me of Hollywoods Golden Era when things were more glamorous and less pedestrian.

I’ve heard rumors over the years about what celebrity might live behind which gate, but that’s irrelevant to me.  What’s more interesting is Los Angeles’s culture of the gate. It’s like a calling card for the home, possibly indicating what you might find on the inside. Yet they always achieve the same thing, keeping unwanted guests out  and giving homes perched on the edge of a cliff a modicum of privacy. I’ve shared a few of my favorites here, and I hope you enjoy them. If by chance you’re reading this, and one of these belongs to you and I’ve broken some law or crossed the line, please let me know. Otherwise I invite you to enjoy the beauty of these ‘total works of art’.  Bravo to these amazing designers and architects.