Incredible Hollywood Photographer You Missed - Ave Pildas

The nice thing about photography is that it lasts forever. So that's why I really like photography. You know it's easy to forget how strange and beautiful a city like Los Angeles used to feel before social media made everything look the same. But in 1970s Hollywood Boulevard still had its magic. Neon signs flashed. Strangers smiled at the camera. Big movie theaters were part of everyday life. Not something old or special. They were just there. Most people didn't think to take pictures of this everyday scene. Not carefully. Not like it mattered. But Ave Pildas did. I was working at Capitol Records as an art director doing album covers. When I wasn't working on a job I would go to Hollywood Boulevard and take pictures. And it was just very exciting for me. That was really the birth of my birth as a street photographer. In the early 1970s there was no street more interesting or full of life than Hollywood Boulevard. It was a place full of opposites. Tourists and outsiders. Dreams and broken signs. Big movie theaters stood side by side with all shots. Everything looked like a part of a movie but it was real life happening right on the sidewalk. For Ave Pildas who had just left his job designing album covers at Capitol Records this street wasn't just a place to walk. It felt like a stage. While other photographers were trying to capture action in parks or protests Ave stood in front of movie theaters. He took pictures of box offices, people selling tickets and strangers walking by. Some in hurry, some lost in thought. He wasn't looking for fame or big dramatic moments. He was interested in something smaller. How everyday life can look like a performance. Ave saw beauty in ordinary things. He didn't need to travel far to find interesting pictures. For him Hollywood Boulevard was already full of signs, people, lights and stories. And as he walked with his camera the street slowly showed him more. I pay attention if I see see an interesting person coming down the street or coming towards me or I just they're just standing around and I think that they would make a good photograph. I go in and I engage them and talk to them and I and the way I do that is that I that I say oh oh that's a really neat hat. So I have a conversation with people before you know before I'm taking their picture you know before I'm taking their picture I'm already their friend. Over the decades Ave Bildas has created a whole world of images. Playful, sharp and deeply human. What you're looking at here is Starstruck. His photographs of everyday people outside movie theaters in 1970s. These people aren't famous. They are not posing. At least some of them. They are caught somewhere between routine and dream. What's striking is that Ave doesn't spend time comparing himself to other photographers. Something that many people now struggle with often pushed by the pressure of social media. Do you think about how to stand out or are you not bothered at all with this? I'm not bothered. I don't care if someone's taking a picture. You know if I see somebody that I know and they're in the same place I say hello to them. We might have a chat a bit of a chat but mostly I'm oblivious to what's going another photographer and what they're doing until after I see their their pictures or you know I'm not at all. I don't have a I left my ego go more than 50 years ago. I don't have an ego. Very often I see a picture that I say oh wow I wish I took that picture because I think that it's an incredible photograph. So I say I wish I took that picture but I don't begrudge the person who took the picture. I think you know and I often send them a message and my favorite thing to say is a good one. Let's see another one. You know so I'm complimentary to other photographers. Ave doesn't photograph to prove anything, not to compete, not to impress. He photographs because it's how he connects with the world, with other people and with himself. That might be what's most radical about Ave's photography. It doesn't shout. It doesn't chase trends. It invites us to slow down, to look, to appreciate something before it disappears and that mindset doesn't fade with time. When people ask me oh why don't you you're too old to do this and that so I have a very positive view of life. You know I'm a positive person and I would say I never quit. You can't quit. You keep living. Never give up. You can always find a work around you. There's no reason to give up. You know if you really have something, if you really want something or you want to show something, you can find a way.