The KING of POP dies at 50

Angelo · June 26, 2009

June 25, 2009 - 2:26 PM - Pacific time, the world learned of the sudden, tragic passing of pop music icon Michael Jackson.

It didn't take long for the streets of Los Angeles to fill with fans wanting to be among compatriots sharing the grief they felt.

The area surrounding the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood Village was so jammed with spectators, ambulances and patients seeking access were redirected to other nearby medical facilities.

In Hollywood, fans flocked to the "Walk of Fame" to spread flowers over Michael's star. Many made the mistake of landing at the star of the former KABC Radio host who went by the same name.

MJ's star, situated directly in front of Mann's Chinese Theater (formerly Grauman's) was covered by a red carpet last night as the premiere of "Bruno" was scheduled and Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic:

The broadcast, cable and even blogosphere media started to show up:

and even the tasteless, opportunists turned out in force:

This morning, after the remnants of the movie premiere had been whisked away, crowds (and I mean CROWDS), of people descended upon Mann's to see Michael's star.

The media was out in force for live feeds. Satellite trucks lined the street jamming traffic:

this is what the mob looked like. I couldn't get near MJ's star.

there were many hand painted signs:

and lots of tears:

and farewell sentiment:

meanwhile, two blocks away...

Nikolai · June 27, 2009

Great PJ piece, Angelino! Love the final touch...

Angelo · June 27, 2009

thanks Nik

bdcolen · June 27, 2009

Kudos, Angelo, for what you shot, and some of how you shot it.

First, I'm really impressed with the way you've put a story together here. Even if I hadn't read your text, I'd know the story - which is the real test of a photo essay.

As to the images, some are very direct, and tell us exactly what you want us to know, but some are a bit vague. For example, the shot of the guy selling the t-shirts, and the other guy taking a cell phone photo, is terrific. But the first, second, and fourth images, if seen outside the story, could be of pretty much anything in LA, given how frequently camera crews and crowds gather - they really need something in them that says MJ.

But after that, it all comes together, as you have images that all specifically tell us what's going on.

Very nice. I hope you're going to be shooting more of this over the next couple days and posting it here.

B. D.

Angelo · June 27, 2009

Hey BD thanks for the comments and encouragement.

I absolutely agree a few of the images do not stand on their own. Lacking better shots I cheated a bit to pull the story together with words. I would've never attempted an image only photo essay without better ones.

I hope to get back over Sunday morning for more shots.

Seefutlung · June 27, 2009

Wow A, good job! The "mob" scene is classic and the contrast to FF's star is a definative statement as to the level of contributions each made to their respective genre. The contrast between the mob shot and the FF single spray is an insightful and interesting twist to the story.

Personally, I feel that as an artist MJ was a driving force of change ... similar to the Beatles before him ... Elvis before the Beatles, et cetera. Sadly enough, MJ's personal life doesn't seem to be of similar stature as his music.

Gary

Angelo · June 27, 2009

Gary

thanks for looking and chiming in. I hoped you would since I so admire your bw - pj work.

having you AND bd offer thumbs up is an honor.

Flutist · June 28, 2009

Even without words, it's a powerful story...Kudos

. Very reminiscent of the events that occurred the day Freddie Mercury (Queen) and Eric Carr (drummer KISS) died.

Richard · June 28, 2009

Nice work, Angelo. One thing that struck me is that as a set, the main thing that comes across is media frenzy rather than grief. Were you making a sly commentary? My favorite is #7 as it captures both themes well.

rutt · June 28, 2009

These two work especially well:

In his class, B.D. stressed separating the story told by the pictures from the one told by the text. Each needs to stand on its own. In fact, he made us select and order the images first, then write the text without reference to the images, and only then integrate them. So the story isn't some sort of extended captioning or glue, but rather has is an independent narrative. This way you can really tell two different stories, each using the medium which is strongest for each particular point.

If you rewrite your text to be less glued to the particular images, I think you'll find than you can choose your strongest images more freely instead of needing to pick ones that illustrate particular sentences.

richtersl · June 28, 2009

Very powerful series. Nicely done.

Flyinggina · June 28, 2009

Thank you so much for sharing these, Angelo.

Not only are you capturing current events, you are helping us all think about how we tell stories with our photographs.

I love the way you have FF's bouquet in color at the end. No words needed.

That last picture gets me thinking about fame, popular culture and what our society values. Very thought provoking series on many levels.

Virginia

aktse · June 28, 2009

bow Love.

I think you capture the moment so well!

Angelo · June 29, 2009

hey, thanks to you all. I appreciate all the feedback.

Richard - very astute observation. I was originally going in that direction.

Rutt - I agree and I went through all those same steps but was limited by my images. Next time I'll work towards better results.

.

The KING of POP dies at 50

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