Reader Photo: ‘Quintessential’ Los Angeles

In his photography, Josh Rose tries to capture the “archetypes” of Los Angeles.

He alternates between shooting in downtown L.A. and Venice to capture the severe contrasts between the two places “and really what’s amazing about this city.”

“There’s no city that can incorporate extremes like Los Angeles,” Rose said. “Downtown is layered. A rich cultural history, but enveloped in shadows and angles. In Venice, it’s all splayed out - curvy, unclothed and on wheels.”

Earlier this month, Rose was walking his usual path in Venice down Abbot Kinney and to the boardwalk, when he saw a man on his bike holding a longboard.

“I watched him go through his ritual of waxing his board and putting his wetsuit on,” he said.

For Rose, the scene captured the essence of surfing: to leave everything behind, to be totally present with the ocean.

“It had ‘quintessential’ written all over it,” he said.

Rose used a Leica to make the image.

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Each week, we’re featuring photos of Southern California and California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments or #californiamoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.