dont smile now – Shani Barel Photography- Los Angeles Based Photographer » modern photography with a twist of sarcasm

“It’s not where you’re going that matters…it’s HOW YOU GET THERE!” is what Juan and Sirinya, a couple in love, always say.
And they mean it, literally.
And they also  put the SPORT in public transport.
I too bought into the notion that no one in LA drives (or works for that matter…) and since my one and only bus ride,  over 10 years ago, starting in Venice Beach and ending in Sherman Oaks ( 3 hours, and 3 buses later) had left me a somewhat skeptic, it would be impossible to take away my car. (A few weeks ago I did think my car had been stolen from my driveway, only to realize I had driven to, and WALKED back from the kids’ school. Yes, I realized it AFTER I had called my husband, the insurance company, and the Police…) but as usual, I digress. I had ridden the metro/subway/ tube all over the world – Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Sidney, and even Beijing..amongst other places – But never in LA…most of the people I talked to had never ridden any form of public transportation in LA county…(not including the tram to the Getty….)
Juan and Sirinya are out to convince us that there’s another way to get around, and that it is not only economical, more efficient, friendlier to the environment, but also, GASP, F-U-N! One of the things they do to prove it,  is a Pub Crawl…If I understood it correctly, you get on and off the Subway train, at cool local bars…drink, and go on – without a risk of DUI (or killing someone!) brilliant!

The first time I met Siriniya was at a wedding…and when we met again at the local coffee shop in their Santa Monica neighborhood to which they had arrived on their awesomely fast xootrs, I realized she was the girl who had come to the wedding by Bike! and by bike I mean bicycle…I remember being so impressed (as someone who has fallen off her bike/had her bike stolen all over the world…I am always fascinated by those who have mastered the city ride….Yes, I have tried using a bike in Paris (stolen) Copenhagen (major ice slide) Berlin (rained out) Beijing (got stared at alot) Byron Bay…actually Byron bay was all good! and my own little time in Santa Monica, riding a bike was just…hard, and once I got a car, I never looked back again…

ANYWAY…enough about me…I…I was very excited when we decided to shoot their engagement session with that theme in mind…I mean, we HAD to…I know some people like to hang at the beach, run in an empty field, make-out on a hotel rooftop….but Sirinya and Juan just like to move on…so  it was a jam packed on the go, don’t stop we have to move on session that too k us from the metro station in North hollywood all the way, and all over Downtown…and back! We were on foot, on scooter, on subway, on bus, by train, and escalators! If it moved, we were on it…

Sirinya and Juan – It was so much fun discovering the underground of the great city of LA – and breaking some rules along the way…

And inspired by it all…I cleaned out my bike that i got 5 years ago and had only ridden once. So if you see a striped girl on a pink bike..it’s probably me…

and if you’d like to see MORE of Sirinya and Juan, click on the slideshow link – here