Gary Leonard will talk about LA for a change

Gary Leonard has been documenting Los Angeles in photos since before he was at UCLA in the early 1970s. He has seen a lot. But what he hasn't done much of is talk about his photographs or the Los Angeles scenes he has chronicled. That ends tomorrow! On Saturday, on stage at the Central Library, I'm sitting Gary down to talk about his photographer life. We'll show plenty of images and discuss the punk music years, the origins of Take My Picture Gary Leonard, and why he seems to be at every media event around town these days.

I'm really looking forward to this one.

The organization Photo Friends and and the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection are putting on the event. It's free from 2 - 3:30 p.m. in the library's Mark Taper Auditorium. Gary promises take a group photo of everyone afterward, so come on down. Your LAPL library card with a validation gets you $1 parking under the library. The Pershing Square garage is a block away, and the Pershing Square Metro station two blocks.

From the invitation:

During the past thirty-plus years, Gary Leonard has photographed the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles, recording the famous and not so famous as they navigate the currents of life in Southern California. He has come to be an integral part of the fabric of the city, documenting and reflecting our triumphs and ordinariness, our characters and landscapes. Gary will present images from throughout his career, including his high school class panoramic photo (where he appears twice), shots from L.A.’s punk rock scene, and favorites from his photo-column, Take My Picture Gary Leonard. Kevin Roderick of LA Observed will coax the stories out of Gary. After the presentation, he will take a picture of the audience.