The Electric Sunshine Velocity Trip by Bryan Formhals

Issue 15

I moved to 1017 N. Genesee Ave in West Hollywood two years after arriving in Los Angeles. I left Minnesota to escape the brutal winters and pursue the screenwriter’s dream. Like many before me, the dream fizzled and was eventually crushed by the sledgehammer of writers block. I picked up a camera seeking a cure for the block, and ended up on a dérive through this bewildering city. Photography re-arranged my mental furniture, and propelled me into the next chapter of my artistic journey.

I was drawn to Los Angeles because I wanted to see what it looked like with my own eyes. And I knew, even as I was moving into a new apartment, and starting a new life, that my time in Los Angeles was fleeting. This was the first time I understood the nexus between photography, experience and memory. I had to photograph to remember. I had to photograph to understand why I chose to live in this city.

Whenever anyone asks me about Los Angeles, one of the first things I tell them is that there’s a reason the film industry took hold there: the light. The pure, golden, electric sunshine that gives the city its color, its insanity, its charm and its mystery. You can't go to Los Angeles without being seduced by the light. That golden light that shines all year long was my guide and constant source of inspiration. I followed it wherever it took me. The electric sunshine was the captain of the trip.

Bryan Formhals is a Brooklyn, NY based artist and writer.
To view more of Bryan's work, please visit his website.
Bryan is the editor/curator of La Pura Vida