Inessa Gabruk, on the way to see a friend, walked with elaborate nonchalance through a park in Ukraine. The grass, of course, was green. As she strolled under the looming trees, a crazed photographer approached her and asked to take her picture. At first, she resisted. She was eighteen. Despite his artistic temperament, the man was able to convince Inessa
that he was a professional, skilled at capturing rare beauty. She let the man take his pictures and thought nothing of it. Several months later he found her again, this time on the cobble stone streets of the city. Inessa was walking back from class, as the green eyed brunette does often, with books about the English language tucked in a sack hanging from her slim shoulder. Today’s lesson would lead her closer than the proper pronunciation of vowels.
The photographer ran to Inessa frantically pleading, “YOU LOOK BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT!
Inessa asked to see his form of voyeurism. The photographer, Kostya Nusneko, delicately removed the photos from a folder he had been holding on to tightly, and revealed the images. Inessa understood.
The shots were taken to a local newspaper. The editor sat at his desk looking over the photos, mesmerized. He launched a new column called “Beauty”, inspired by Inessa’s depiction.
Inessa then decided to put those same pictures in an envelope and send them to a magazine in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. In that envelope was a white piece of paper with Inessa’s number scribbled across it. Some time passed, but then there was a call. On the other end was the editor-in-chief asking if she was ready for her close...
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A city beats through the hearts of its people. Creative energy flows all around. There is a cultural renaissance happening in LA, calling everyone across the nation and the world. These are our top picks for Angelenos who are breathing life into our city:
JAI AL-ATTAS
Smells Like Teen Spirit
An Aussie is sitting on a balcony in a white Nike t-shirt and dark sunglasses. His name is Jai Al-Attas. He’s telling me about a squatter he just kicked out of his pad in Los Feliz. “She just annoys me because she’s always in my space. I’d wake up everyday and she’d just be there eating cereal in my bed.” Innovation breathes without restraint.
Jai started his own record label in Sydney when he was 16 with two of his friends, called Below Par Records. They signed some American bands like Brand New and Yellowcard, released some compilations with At the Drive-In and Fall Out Boy, and impressed some people, big people. EMI bought half the label in 2007, and the rest is in negotiations. Since Jai was 18, he’s been flying back and forth from Australia to the States for meetings, but last February he decided to make the move for real. The plunge to Los Angeles led to film. He shot a documentary last year on the 90’s evolution of music called, “One Nine Nine Four”. It’s about the post Kurt Cobain punk rock virus that spread when bands like Green Day and Rancid and The Offspring erupted onto the scene... to read more
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