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Podcasts Off-Ramp
PHOTOS: Gary Leonard and Colette Miller find the better angels in our nature
Off-Ramp with John Rabe Hero Image
(
Dan Carino
)
Feb 19, 2013
Listen • 3:00
PHOTOS: Gary Leonard and Colette Miller find the better angels in our nature
It's a very simple idea. Stand in front of the wings painted on the security shutters at the Regent Theatre and have your photo taken, and voila, you're an angel in the city of Angels.
Gary Leonard photographs Lisa Derrick at Colette Miller's wings project.
Gary Leonard photographs Lisa Derrick at Colette Miller's wings project.
(
John Rabe
)
Mari and RB with Colette Miller's wings
Mari and RB with Colette Miller's wings
(
Gary Leonard
)
Collette Miller's wings waiting for a body.
Colette Miller's wings waiting for a body.
(
John Rabe
)
LA City Councilman and Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti with Collette Miller's wings.
LA City Councilman and Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti with Colette Miller's wings.
(
Gary Leonard
)
Chicken Boy and Colette Miller's wings.
Chicken Boy and Colette Miller's wings.
(
Gary Leonard
)
Off-Ramp host John Rabe prepares to leave the nest.
Off-Ramp host John Rabe prepares to leave the nest.
(
Gary Leonard
)
Amy Inouye (Chicken Boy's mom), Scarlet the dog, and Colette Miller's wings.
Amy Inouye (Chicken Boy's mom), Scarlet the dog, and Colette Miller's wings.
(
Gary Leonard
)
Blair Beston, executive director of the Historic Core BID, and Colette Miller's wings.
Blair Beston, executive director of the Historic Core BID, and Colette Miller's wings.
(
Gary Leonard
)
Storyboard artist William Mitchell and Colette Miller's wings.
Storyboard artist William Mitchell and Colette Miller's wings.
(
Gary Leonard
)
Gary Leonard at Collette Miller's wings project
Gary Leonard at Colette Miller's wings project
(
John Rabe
)
Off-Ramp host John Rabe and husband Julian Bermudez.
Off-Ramp host John Rabe and husband Julian Bermudez.
(
Gary Leonard
)

It's a very simple idea. Stand in front of the wings painted on the security shutters at the Regent Theatre and have your photo taken, and voila, you're an angel in the city of Angels.

UPDATE (5/8/2014): Gary Leonard's Wings photos are all together and showing at an exhibit that opens tonite at 6. "Angels on Main Street" is at the Fine Arts Building, 811 West 7th Street, downtown LA.

It's a very simple idea. Colette Miller painted wings on the pull-down security shutters at the Regent Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Stand in front of the wings and have your photo taken and voila, you're an angel in the city of Angels.

For freelance photographer Gary Leonard, who strives to capture a broad range of LA life, it was the perfect setup. He simply emailed a bunch of his contacts and asked them to meet him last weekend in front of the wings. It turns his paradigm on its head: instead of having to travel all over LA to capture LA's diverse people and events, different people from all walks of life in LA came to him. He photographed street people, activists, Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, an aging public radio host, an unborn child, and many more.

And I can tell you from experience, something interesting happens when you pose in front of those wings: you stand a little taller, you feel like - maybe - you're flying a little, you turn into a slightly better person.