Take a kaleidoscopic journey inside the second issue of Image in 16 images

By The editors

May 26, 2021 7:02 AM PT

There are various ways of seeing L.A. for what it is. You just need to take the time to look. For this second issue of Image magazine, we sought to reflect the city’s energy and vibrance in a way that feels true to the Los Angeles we know and love. This issue is called “L.A. — We. See. You!” It attempts to capture the wave the people who drive culture are on. That means more of the limitless brilliance of the city’s creatives. More style. More art.

Open the book — or scroll through — and stay awhile. The L.A. you see might surprise you.

—The editors

A woman in athletic wear in an illustration of Los Angeles icons

In this nuanced and intimate profile Darian Symoné Harvin talks to Lauren London at length about the challenges the actor experienced navigating Hollywood and how staying true to her Black L.A. roots brought her fame and the love of her life: Nipsey Hussle. London opens up about the aftermath of his tragic killing. Finding peace after Nipsey Hussle’s death required London to confront the truth head on. “It’s our fear of the truth that makes it hard,” London says, “but the truth is always loving and welcoming.” 👉 Read the story.

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Photo essay: What these artists and activists want you to know about their L.A.

“Star Shots were currency to so many,” Julissa James writes in the introduction to this beautiful photo essay. They were, she continues, the “original Instagram.” Indeed, Star Shots have kept so many connected in this city of sprawl for more than two decades. So for the second installment of Image, we asked artists, activists and creatives to put their own contemporary spins on the form. We also asked them about their L.A. — the real L.A. — and future city they wanted to see. They didn’t disappoint: They came, they posed, they remembered. Come for the beautiful, endearing photos. Stay for the tribute to the city. 👉 Read the story.

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Artist Noah Purifoy saw value in the discarded. What if L.A. didn’t throw people away?

“Untitled (Welcome Sign), 1998”, at the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum.

Noah Purifoy was onto something. It’s time the world took notice. “I have this feeling,” Ismail Muhammad writes, “that what Purifoy was searching for with his assemblages was the social life of junk — not only inanimate objects but also all of us castoff people.” As an artist, Purifoy envisioned a radical future of inclusivity and community. Muhammad reveals the lasting importance and under-recognized brilliance of Purifoy, pioneer of “assemblage art.” You won’t ever look at “junk” the same. 👉 Read the story.

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Sesshu Foster and Arturo Romo have the antidote for the erasure of East L.A.

For our latest installment of Los Intelligentsia, E. Tammy Kim talks to Sesshu Foster and Arturo Romo, two fixtures of the Eastside. The duo have deep ties and even deeper memories of everything East L.A. The conversation traverses so much terrain, but each subject — be it the appropriate response to historical erasure, whether by developers or state violence or new forces of hyper-gentrification, or the history of the labor movement in L.A. — is interconnected. Taken together, the conversation is a project of decolonization. The perfect antidote to erasure. 👉 Read the story.

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The L.A. designer who remade the cobija into luxury fashion

A woman sits on a rooftop in a red outfit

Brenda Equihua has given the swap meet blanket new life. Now, everyone from Lil Nas X to Young Thug has been spotted with one. In this piece, written in the spirit of Sontag’s “Notes On Camp,” Julissa James breaks down the history of cobijas and how one L.A. designer gave them new life. 👉 Read the story.

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What exists at the edge of our perception? Artist Kenturah Davis is here to show you

A drawing of Lauren Halsey with "Crenshaw" on her sweatshirt

Each encounter with the work of multidisciplinary artist Kenturah Davis offers a reminder that “true sight is a discipline, a practice,” writes Image Editor in chief Ian F. Blair. “Her technique — meticulous, patient, layered — demands a sustained gaze.” In this interview, Blair and Davis take the reader on a journey to the edge of perception. What lies there, Davis says, is “a space of opening.” 👉 Read the story.

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Let Aimee Song show you how DTLA does levels

In this installment of “Styling Myself,” the blogger-turned-designer behind Song of Style shares her essential L.A. fashion outfits. 👉Read the story.

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I manifested the perfect jean jacket and the Melrose gods delivered

An illustration of a denim jacket with three horses on the back

Jade Chang, the journalist and author of “The Wangs vs. the World,” could see the jacket even before she found it. “This is the only way I acquire clothing now; an item pops to mind, and I do what I can to find it,” she writes. “Something to focus on in a chaotic world.” Somehow the manifesting pays off; she lands the jacket of her dreams only to discover a fascinating history she didn’t expect. Her meditation is equal parts funny and cosmic. 👉 Read the story.

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The world of Black hair magic, according to an icon of L.A.’s hair avant-garde

A woman against a wall with a bold geometric design

The Times’ Arit John interviews Kari Williams, who invented Goddess Locs for Meagan Good. “I can teach you the technique all day long but when it comes to the artistry, that’s within each unique individual,” Williams says. “That’s why I love to refer to stylists within the Black community who create Black hairstyles as artisans.”👉 Read the story.

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Merch bootleggers are reclaiming L.A.’s sports franchises from the billionaires

a photo illustration of a bootleg Lebron James t-shirt on top of a colorful background

“My closet has plenty of pricey grails from fancy fashion houses with care tags written in Italian, but those aren’t the pieces I’m most proud of. Some of my most treasured possessions are obscure, cheaply made bootleg sports T-shirts.” So begins Dave Schilling’s homage to bootleg gear. In this piece, Schilling brings his usual humor, clairvoyance, wit. He shows you the venerable history of bootleg gear in L.A. “There’s something genuine, endearing about fakeness,” he writes. 👉 Read the story.

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No one really needs a $5,000 water bottle. Why is it Runyon’s most mandatory accessory?

Still-life image of an eco-friendly water bottle surrounded by colorful paper and geometric objects.

Something strange is happening on the trails of Runyon Canyon. A trend that is becoming difficult to unsee. In this essay, writer Natalie Rigg breaks down how designer water bottles are all the rage in Hollywood. Her analysis is sharp, witty and so much more. From Chanel to Prada, eco-friendly water bottles never looked so thirsty. 👉 Read the story.

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