David James and son Seven, atop the Los Feliz Club Apartments with Vermont Ave in the background. The Onyx Cafe was located on the spot (bright-strobe) in the photo behind them. This 'spot' now is occupied by Figaro Cafe.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
on Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Four Photography all-time greats, Richard Avedon, George Silk, Ezra Stoller and Henri Cartier-Bresson, have past away last fall. One of them, who I am very much familiar with, in my own photographic life, is Cartier-Bresson. Probably due to the photographic intercession of his photographic work FIRST, before the introduction of other photographers, from books I've come across while a teen. His "On the banks of the Marne, 1938." and "Henri Matisse, 1944", since encountering them, have been embedded vividly in my head through the years. Coming across a PDN magazine and reading the "Letter from the Editor" section, Holly Hughes (editor) writes that Cartier-Bresson said "Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing." Her deduction to this is, - among the vanishing things preserved in a photo are the moments caught on film, and ALSO the moment behind the camera: the photographer's flash of inspiration, a way of looking, a stage in the development of an artist. She also adds that, though these photographers are still shooting exciting new work, they've also been sifting through and reflecting on their older images. The process gives both the viewer and the artists a glimpse of their younger selves. Henri Cartier-Bresson is acknowledged widely for the establishment of "Magnum Photos" agency in 1946 (with Capa, Rodger, Vandivert and Seymour), whose ideology (photography as the image of the "decisive moment"), represented a concept of photo-reporting which gave its imprint to visual information after the war and up to recent years.
Martha Packard <mpackard@earthlink.net> wrote: Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 15:23:40 -0800
Subject: NEW CAFÉ/COFFEEHOUSE, TRIBAL CAFÉ,
OPENING DEFINITELY IN THE 2ND WEEK OF FEBRUARY IN ECHO PARK!!! :)
From: Martha Packard
To: Tribal Cafe Pre-Opening & Opening Date/Time Announcement List! GREETINGS, EVERYONE!!! :) This email is to let everyone know that the new
café/coffeehouse, Tribal Café in Echo Park, will be definitely opening up in
the second week of February and you will only hear from me once after this
(basically to let you know the opening date, general café hours, and
upcoming shows and events, including the Onyx Reunion show(s)/event,
etc.)... :) After that, there will be a regular Tribal Café mailing list
where you can sign up to receive regular updates on the above, if you'd
like!!! :)
Anyways, if you or anyone you know is interested in showing their art and/or
photography and/or jewelry, having poetry readings, having your band or any
kind of music play there, putting on sketches and/or plays and/or comedy,
etc., please contact the owner, Joshua Jose, at: pixelsky1@yahoo.com and
give him your contact info. and tell him what you do!!! :) Also, if you are
a publisher of any kind of arts, music, and/or political, etc., newspaper,
magazine, e-zine, fanzine, etc., please contact Josh if you would like to
have it available at the café and the café will have a community bulletin
board, also, so if you have any flyers, business cards, etc., you'd like to
post, you will be able to do that there, also!!! :)
Anyways, I'll be contacting you all once or twice again before the café
opens and I hope to see you all there on the opening day/evening or sometime
soon thereafter!!! :) Anyways, take care, PEACE, and ROCK ON!!! :D ;)
I just happened to be in a state of mind, this afternoon, where you ponder on people who have in some way been a factor in getting other people's butt in gear (mine included). one of them is steve allan griffin. s.a. is the one person everyone knows, that doesn't boast on how many poetry books he has written, how many theatrical poetry performances he's done, nor even the accolades of him being a prolific hollywood actor. s.a. is in fact very approachable, personable and entertaining to be with. i remember sometime in 1997 at the ONYX, i asked him if he had an extra copy of his "twisted cadillac" poetry book, because i left behind the original one he gave me on some plane bound back to los angeles. he says drop my place later and i'll see if i do have an extra one. anyways, i did get one and didn't realized (until today) that the book was autographed with a line that reads: Paul -- we will always have the stars. we will always have air. we will always have the ONYX. S.A. now, with a line like that, how much more groovy can you get! peace out steve. -- paul
frank reiber at his favorite spot at the cafe doing the puffing on a cubano fatty and working on his third cappucino. we happened to be neighbors for 5 years on the same 3rd floor at the Los Feliz Club Apartments (managed by another Onyx regular and friend - Carl Schuster).
my buddy ralph manning and his daughter, evelyn rose on the courtyard of my old digs in valley village (block north of studio city). we had great memorable days of starting morning CNC (Haas) class at a nearby machining trade school in north hollywood, with coffee at starbucks on riverside drive and later after school, at the starbucks along ventura blvd. ralph gave me a call after a yearlong silence. he's been pre-occupied heavily, with work and raising a family.
"I don't care about making photography an art," said Mr. Steichen. "I want to make good photographs. I'd like to know who first got it in his head that dreaminess and mist is art.
Take things as they are; take good photographs and the ART WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF."
the PHOTO GALLERY containing photographs taken at the Onyx Café is work in progress, most of these scanned negatives were recently unearthed. since i've benefitted a great deal from the onyx cafe(free coffee, etc.), it's now payback time to mr. john leech and to every soul i hung out with, with my photographs. enjoy!!!
the Onyx Café was more than just an institutional cafe to most of the regulars and myself. it was a "state of mind" without the aid of any mind altering pill. it was a place where you can actually feel how "timeless" the place was. it was a conglomerated convergence of people from all walks of life. from hollywood celebs to suitcase-geared travelling bohemians introducing themselves, and being welcomed (and not interrupting any intellectual arguments). it was the crossroads to every major city on this planet. it was happening! day and night, into day again. amidst the aroma of the coffee lingering in the air, there was also, all kinds of drama. but we will not go there. you can never complain about the taste of espressos and cappuccinos served here, nor how the architectural facade of the place appeared, nor even how people looked or dressed. people come here for the same one thing that everyone else is seeking --- and it's not just the java. it is.. NIRVANA. yep. and the whole crowd was experiencing it collectively.
