City Scene in a Different Light

After night falls, Ventura Boulevard

In Studio City, transforms into

another world, a place of

reflections and lights and

shadows. It’s best to appreciate

this four-mile stretch of the

boulevard about 9 or 10 p.m.,

when the streets have largely

cleared of pedestrians. After all,

the buildings and lights are the

things that set the mood, not the

people. Neon-colored tubes can

turn an ordinary staircase into an

abstract graphic broken by a

person descending. Lights shining

from a jewerly store window

reflect in the pavement, creating

a warm glow that most

pedestrians probably don’t

notice. Dark windows of stores

become mirrors of street life,

turning seeminly mundane

actions, such as using a pay

phone, into mysterious scenes.

Then there is the touch of absurd,

like the rock climber in a

billboard who appears to be

scaling an office building.