While we’re in LA I thought it’d be worth putting up these portraits of some of the city’s top producers and DJs that first appeared in our inbox in 2009. Los Angeles was getting it’s proper hype at last, Daddy Kev’s Low End Theory was in full flight and Gaslamp Killer was known as an out there DJ, though yet to drop an official release of his own production.
Shot by the late great Shaun Bloodworth – who needs no introduction as a proper gentleman and one of the most talented photographers we’ve ever seen – some of the images were used for a limited Bleep release, photographing producers from around the world.
Something about the LA cats in particular, this period of time in their lives and the street scenes they were shot in, really makes them stand out from the rest.
The portraits at some point became the property of PYMCA – the Photographic Youth Music and Culture Archive – who maintain a truly inspiring archive “sourced from all over the world, documenting the lifestyles, fashions, hairstyles, music and subcultures of young people from the 1940s to the present day”.
Owner Jon Swinstead seems to have since handed over reins to a much larger corporate, but has since founded Youth Club who operate in a similar vein, celebrating and sharing youth culture.
In order left to right, top to bottom – Dam Funk, Ras G, NoCanDo, Tokimonsta, Teebs, Jneiro Jarel, Daddy Kev, Daedalus, Gaslamp Killer, Matthew David and Flying Lotus.
