Jimi Hendrix, 1970

The Sixties

In 1967, “The Summer of Love,” I was 15 years old and in transition, (as many are at that age). It was a time of dramatic change in this country, a time when a new youth-culture rose in power and influence. It was the year of the Monterey Pop Festival, the year the Beatles released Sergeant Pepper and the year that the first Chinese H-bomb was detonated. It was the year that Elvis married Prisilla and Muhammad Ali was sentenced to prison for draft evasion. That year I helped sail a 48-foot yacht from Honolulu to Los Angeles, started high school (where I took my first photography class) and got my driver’s license. A new driver’s license in Los Angeles was like sprouting wings and Southern California in the “Sixties” was an exciting place to be. I explored the Southland negotiating its vast freeway systems, from Venice to Hollywood and, with camera in hand, documented events as they unfolded before me.