Marshall McLuhan, the philosopher and scholar, introduced the remarkable but convoluted term, "The medium is the message." The term suggests that it doesn't matter what is on tv, so drawn are we to the image on the screen. And the message? What about it?

Which might explain what possessed so many American motels in the 1960's to install signs advertising that they featured COLOR TV. They might have installed neon signs offering, "BIBLES," or "ICE." But they didn't.

In that same way the photographer found himself drawn to this neon COLOR TV sign, though he wasn't sure why or what it meant. Perhaps then, like Marshall McLuhan suggested, the medium is the message.

Photographed at night, this neon sign was attached to a larger sign at the Malibu Shores Motel on Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California. 8x10", in bright color. Matted at no extra charge.

An extraordinary photograph with a composition that will surprise you, all regarding an extraordinary event: the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, in June 1968, on the eve of his historic victory in the 1968 California presidential primary.

From the photographer: "I was in Santa Barbara, California, a beautiful coastal community in southern California. I was shooting pictures of nothing in particular when I came across the Ambassador Motel, a typical stucco, Mediteranean style structure. As I shot a few pictures of the motel, I began to reflect on the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where Senator Kennedy was assassinated.

"An interesting story behind the assassination is that newspapers at the time reported on claims by witnesses to have seen a 'woman in a polka dot dress' exiting the Ambassador Hotel, claiming to have shot Senator Kennedy. While the woman was eventually identified and cleared, she seemed to me to be a woman of mystery, surely a footnote in history and living somewhere with this knowledge. As I shot pictures of the Ambassador Motel, I began to wonder if, through some remarkable twist of fate, the Woman in the Polka Dot Dress, so identified with the Ambassador Hotel was actually living in the Ambassador Motel.

"Time went by and the Ambassador Motel photograph did nothing special for me - as a photograph, that is. What came together though was the vision for 'In Search of the Woman in the Polka Dot Dress.' I cut out the motel picture in the shape of the mirror of my 1968 MG Midget and taped it to the car's mirror. So the image that you see is actually a photograph of a photograph. If you think about it, if there really was an image in the mirror, it would be backwards. In addition, you can bust me by looking at the cut out image of the motel. Us lefty's never could cut with scissors. I love the idea though, that in this digital age a simple photograph of a photograph can have so much feeling.

"The photograph works on a number of levels: political history, perhaps a 'road' picture, perhaps a detective mystery. I consider In Search of the Woman in the Polka Dot Dress the greatest work of photographic art I have ever created."

Black & white, available in 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge. Shipping charges waived.

Walker Evans, the great American photographer of stark, real images of the Great Depression, a breakthrough artist who, along with Robert Capa, gave voice to photography, changed its method from art to statement. Study a photograph by Ansel Adams and see flowing beauty. Observe a photograph by Walker Evans and see toil, sweat, pride, hardship. But what if this great photographer was a victim of his own vision? What hardships did Walker Evans see when he looked out the window?

Photographed from the roof of the Orpheum Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles, a magnificent theater, opened in 1926. The photograph was placed in a wooden magazine rack to simulate a window frame. The "curtains" are actually cloth table placemats. The finished product - a little bit sarcastic - is thus a photograph of a photograph. Created with love and great respect for Walker Evans and his family. Black and white, available in 8x12" full frame.

The photographer wandered through a series of abandoned greenhouses adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. Not the get-'em-up-quick greenhouses of today with plastic sheeting and PVC pipe, but the seemingly permanent greenhouses of old with glass windows, iron framing and wood rafters. The charcoal shadings, the shadows, the patterns - all were beautiful and inviting to the camera lens.  Available in 8 x 12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.

 A beautiful engraving with art deco styling photographed at the Catalina Casino in Avalon Harbor, Catalna Island, off the coast of southern California. This photograph, with its rich colors, was shot looking straight up to the ceiling of the Casino's massive ballroom, created in the late 1920's. Available in 8 x 12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.

A beautiful home with, well, a view of the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California. In these troubled times we can still dream, can't we? Color, available in 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.

From the Umbrellas series, photographed in Santa Monica, California from the roof of the Shangri-La Hotel, looking straight down 12 stories. Color, 8x10" and matted at no extra charge.

From the Umbrellas series and photographed in Ronda, Spain, outside of the city of Sevilla. The photographer discovered these umbrellas, which read, "Beba Coca Cola," or "drink Coca Cola," outside a small restaurant. He leaned over two gentlemen seated at an outside table and shot one image, resulting in this beautiful color photograph. 8x12" full frame, matted at no extra charge.

A beautiful color image from the French Quarter in New Orleans, a great American city with architecture and style perhaps unlike any other.  Photographed in July, 2005, just one month before Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the city's underbuilt levees. Color, available in 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.

A dreamy photograph of the Santa Monica Pier,  a local fixture in Santa Monica, California dating back to 1909. This photograph, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and shot from the roof of the nearby Sheraton Miramar hotel, portrays a far different pier than what has existed since 1996. A 1983 storm destroyed much of the pier - as seen here in the photograph. It came back to life in 1996 with a restored length but with a a busy amusement park built on top. This photograph of a quieter and more quaint environment recalls a period that may no longer exist - except in photographs. Black and white. Available in 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.

A magnificent color image photographed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The photographer came across these two shrubs in colorful bloom and beyond them discovered a field of palm trees seemingly dancing to their own tropical breeze. Color, 8x12" full frame. Matted at no extra charge.