"Together Santa Monica and Venice are the epitome of the footloose, southern California beach lifestyle. With a carousel, an arcade, an amusement park, a trapeze school, restaurants and a summer outdoor concert series, the Santa Monica Pier is alive with activity.

"Venice is a microcosm of everything that is slightly off-center about SoCal: burned-out hippies, healers, fortune tellers, bodybuilders, artists, poets, preachers, scam artists, fitness freaks, an animal freak show, a roller skating-rocker. Skate and wander where 'weed' clinics thrive amid ogling tourists. Along the way scents of incense and grass mingle in the air.

"Mere blocks away, some of southern California's most colorful and expensive homes with their well tended gardens reflect on scenic canals in landscapes seemingly from another world. Here every style from Spanish Mission, English Tudor, French Provincial, Tuscan & Venetian, to every stage of modern from mid-century to 2011 Architectural Digest contemporary is crammed side-by-side in that hap-hazard L.A. style. But somehow, here in fantasyland, it all works. Mild to wild...VENICE is VIVID!

"My website: http://bartaldrich.com/

"All Images © Bart Aldrich, All Rights Reserved. Please contact for permission.