Description: From its original settlement refered to as, “the Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels” by Spanish colonists in 1781, Los Angeles was destined for greatness. This pictorial overview captures a bold and sassy metropolitan city where the scenery is dramatic and always changing. Downtown’s skyscrapers are in sharp contrast to distinctive neighborhoods that reflect the broad character of L.A. Follow this photographic tour with Stephen Bay's beautiful images of a magical place that includes eclectic beach towns, ethnically rich districts, the star-studded media production center of Hollywood and the glamour of Beverly Hills.
I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and I am the youngest son of Korean immigrants. I earned a degree in engineering from the University of Waterloo, followed by a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine. I became interested in photography during my final year of doctoral studies. At the time, photography served as a relaxing diversion to highly technical and analytical work. However, my initial interest in photography quickly grew and I began sharing my work with the public.
My work has appeared in many publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, Gardening How-To, and Somerset Studio Magazine. In 2005, Doris Patey at Twin Lights Publishing asked me to do a book of Los Angeles photographs, which I agreed to do. I spent the next half year revisiting Los Angeles (I was former resident) and I enjoyed the project immensely as L.A. is my favorite city. The book, Los Angeles: A Photographic Portrait, is now available from retailers and the publisher.
I learned to photograph on film and I primarily shot transparencies. I love the vivid color of slides on a lightbox and there was nothing more exciting then getting my boxes of slides back from the developing lab. However, digital cameras have improved tremendously in recent years and offer many advantages over film both in terms of quality and in the ease of reproduction and distribution. Today, I shoot almost entirely digitally, except for the odd assignment where the advantages of film outweigh the benefits of digital captures.
Visit me online at http://bayimages.net/
