La Jolla, the D, and Walking Around on Film--May 2026

I had intended to shoot one full roll in La Jolla, but I ended up getting derailed and living in the moment instead (lame). So I ended up with this strange hodgepodge of photos from different days and locations, as seems to be my way.

The thing I did not know about La Jolla before visiting is that it has seven sea caves. These are its main attraction. Most of them are accessed by snorkeling or kayaking (spot the kayaker in this photo). The one pictured here is accessible by land through The Cave Store, which leads tours down a staircase tunnel thing.

Unfortunately I was not able to go on one of said tours because the line was too long. But I did take this photo of the outside of the cave. I was mostly struck by how many different creatures all gather and cohabitate at this spot. Tourists, various birds, and sea lions were all present.

To me it looked like this seagull was surveying its domain. It barely shows up in the photo though.

One of my friends moved out of LA, and these pictures were taken before she cleared out of her apartment. This is a very inaccurate depiction of her cat Lola, who typically looks very sweet and curious and kind of like a funny little sea creature, not angry at all.

I don't think this photo captures it, but my friend's (now former) neighbor's patio is such a lovely little oasis.

The yellow of the building came out looking very sickly at first--I can't tell if it's something I did or if it has to do with the scans. I changed to a different film lab that I think only has one type of scanner (I suspect Noritsu), whereas previously I had gotten Frontier scans. I edited in an attempt at color correction.

Though I wasn't there for its grand opening, I did finally get to "ride the D" for the first time to one of its new stops--Wilshire/Fairfax! This stop is particularly exciting because it goes to an area where there are actually things to do instead of just single family homes or gas stations. The bar is low for LA public transit. I of course couldn't resist snapping a few photos of the metro art therein.

The text pictured here is sort of hard to read, it's next to the rails on both sides and in other places around the station in multiple languages. I forget what it said, but it's a quote about traveling. Apparently this artist has a whole series about stripes? It would probably make more sense to me if I had that context. Still, I was excited to see art near the rail where it's easier to view while waiting for the train. Also, everything is so clean! (for the time being)

This piece really cemented for me what I think the vibe of this station is--It feels like you're inside the pages of a textbook. The colorful text and glossy photos are adjacent to the utopian scholastic aesthetic (which I love), but in my opinion the station as a whole falls short of that aesthetic by being too clean and modern.

I wish they'd gone more wacky and maximalist with the built environment to enhance the art pieces. That might just be me.

The wackiness of these photos, tiled all over the walls by the escalators, took the textbook vibe further in a way I enjoyed. Some of the hand/object poses felt distinctly sexual in a way that made me laugh, which could've been the intention or maybe not. Either way, fun!

The rest of these photos are from me walking around.

I like this wall art.

This letter was on the ground by a table with free food. It seemed like it was written by someone who moved away from LA and missed the city. I thought it was sort of sad and sweet.

That's it for May! Very unfocused (literally and figuratively).