About Larry Gus

Gee Whiz, where to begin, well, I didn't start out as a photographer, I began as a guitar player. I played in bands and jammed my way all through high school and beyond. Then I got it in my head that I needed to learn how to read music, we had an old beat up piano, then God send a great piano teacher and the next thing I knew it I was a piano major at CalArts (in the 70's no less) great while it lasted. I failed miserably, my sight-reading wasn't up to snuff, I had not yet found my tone and subsequently had to find something else to do. I recall pouring over the books in the library about photojournalism: Philip Jones Griffiths, Larry Burrows, Don McCullen, and many, many others. To make a long story short, I eventually began freelancing for the Los Angeles Times newspaper and also landed a photo internship under the professional mentorship and crusted wing of the Lengendary Lou Mack, a grizzled, hard-boiled veteran from the heady days of Yellow Journalism and the notorious, Hearst owned LA Examiner, and yeah, Lou was old. The other eager interns were assigned downtown Metro or to some other trendy location not in the San Gabriel Valley, not only that, the other staff mentors were younger, more stylish with their pony tails, and long sleeved puffy shirts, while Lou dressed from the Blair mail order men's catalogue. I could feel the derision, the mockery, but you know what? I wouldn't trade it for all the caffeine in Starbucks. As a matter of fact, everything you ever heard about the dark, seedy underbelly that was 1940's/50's Los Angeles is shockingly true and Lou lived it, took the pictures (he once showed me how he would handle his 4x5 Speed Graphic Press camera...with both eyes closed.) Lou always promised he would take me to the ultra ritzy "Hooker's Ball" I'm sorry I never made it. So yeah, "I'm one of Lou Mack's boys...who's askin'"

https://larrygus.photoshelter.com/about/