VENICE BEACH

I took these pictures in early 1972 when Joan and I and our three growing daughters lived in West Covina, California, about forty miles from Venice Beach. It was not among our favorite swimming beaches and had little to attract visitors. It was much like an inner-city neighborhood shoved off to the ocean’s edge.

The people pictured in these pages lived there, drawn to the place by its affordable housing. Many were elderly Jewish people living side by side with a somewhat larger community of young people bearing bongo drums. By ignoring each other, these groups seemed to coexist amicably.