Brian Moore
Moderator
Bungalow 21 has some historical notoriety, over and above any architectural significance, and this is the reason for the sign in front. It is the boyhood home of Louis Zamperini.
Louis Zamperini ran in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. When the war broke out he joined the US Army Air Force (as it was then called) and flew in bombers in the Pacific Theatre. On one occasion he and some others were obliged to fly a rescue mission for a downed plane. However, the plane they were flying in--a notoriously troublesome aircraft in itself, so much so that the men were reluctant to get in it--also went down into the Pacific. Zamperini and two others survived the crash. They were adrift for over 30 days in a small lifeboat. They survived on rainwater and the occasional fish or bird which they caught. (One, maybe both, of the others died at sea--I think just one.)
The survivor(s) were then captured by the Japanese and were transported to incarceration in Japan. Because of his notoriety (as an Olympian), Zamperini was singled out for particularly harsh treatment by a sadistic guard.
Zamperini survived the war, however, and went on to lead a productive life. He is the subject of the book "Unbroken", by Laura Hillenbrand, which I had read last year. (She also wrote Seabiscuit, which I highly recommend.) Zamperini is still alive. (Although, to my knowledge, he no longer lives in Bungalow 21.
)
From reading the book I knew that Zamperini grew up in a house on Gramercy Street in Torrance, and I also knew that street wasn't far from where I work. So on the day I shot the image of Bungalow 21 I walked in the general direction of where I believed Gramercy to be and stumbled upon it. From that point I looked for the Zamperini home and found that too.
All shots with the Minox 35GT and Rite Aid (Fuji) 200 film.
Bungalow 21
Bungalow 22
Bungalow 23
Bungalow 24
Bungalow 25
Louis Zamperini ran in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. When the war broke out he joined the US Army Air Force (as it was then called) and flew in bombers in the Pacific Theatre. On one occasion he and some others were obliged to fly a rescue mission for a downed plane. However, the plane they were flying in--a notoriously troublesome aircraft in itself, so much so that the men were reluctant to get in it--also went down into the Pacific. Zamperini and two others survived the crash. They were adrift for over 30 days in a small lifeboat. They survived on rainwater and the occasional fish or bird which they caught. (One, maybe both, of the others died at sea--I think just one.)
The survivor(s) were then captured by the Japanese and were transported to incarceration in Japan. Because of his notoriety (as an Olympian), Zamperini was singled out for particularly harsh treatment by a sadistic guard.
Zamperini survived the war, however, and went on to lead a productive life. He is the subject of the book "Unbroken", by Laura Hillenbrand, which I had read last year. (She also wrote Seabiscuit, which I highly recommend.) Zamperini is still alive. (Although, to my knowledge, he no longer lives in Bungalow 21.
)From reading the book I knew that Zamperini grew up in a house on Gramercy Street in Torrance, and I also knew that street wasn't far from where I work. So on the day I shot the image of Bungalow 21 I walked in the general direction of where I believed Gramercy to be and stumbled upon it. From that point I looked for the Zamperini home and found that too.
All shots with the Minox 35GT and Rite Aid (Fuji) 200 film.
Bungalow 21
Bungalow 22
Bungalow 23
Bungalow 24
Bungalow 25
