The Pope of Broadway
The Pope of Broadway – 242 S. Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, CA, USA
The Pope of Broadway, is a 60’x70’ 5 story mural painted by artist Eloy Torrez in 1985 on the south side of the Victor Clothing Company Building so it is actually facing 3rd Street. When I first saw it, I thought it was some kind of LA LA Land apparition pulling me in, taking me up and over the evil spiked fence, tempting me to spray paint over it. I was able to break away that day, but the temptation to return to that creepy part of 3rd St. remained with me. Over the years, the mural faded as did my fear of the 5 story high painting of Anthony Quinn in his best Zorba the Greek stance…and someone, a lesser man than I, really did spray paint over it.
A $150,000 donation has recently been secured for the restoration of the severely faded and damaged Pope of Broadway and work will begin soon. For my image, I came in tight leaving the parking lot below out of the frame to make it more surreal. I did a digital restoration similar to what the real restoration might look like, but left in some of the cooler damage. I also took the liberty of giving Mr.Quinn his right eye back which had been missing for years.
Copyright 2015, O. Bisogno Scotti, All Rights Reserved
Nikon D810 DSLR, Nikkor AF Zoom-NIKKOR 80-200mm f-2.8D ED, exposure program: Aperture Priority, shutter: M-up mode, Vello Wireless ShutterBoss Timer Remote, Manfrotto 3221 tripod with Manfrotto 3047 studio head, depth of field measurement: Simple DoF Calculator app., iPhone 6 +, capture date and time: 9/06/2015, 8:32 am.
32-bit HDR image consisting of 9 bracketed frames, 1 EV apart merged into one High Dynamic Range image file in Photoshop CC 2015. The first frame was exposed according to the in-camera meter at f/5.6, 1/60 sec., ISO 64 (native ISO). 4 bracketed frames above (1 EV apart), and 4 below (1 EV apart).
Blog-Bisogno 
Miranda of Violet’s Veg*n e-Comics. Thanks for being the first to like my image of “The Pope of Broadway”. I’m glad this mural will be finally restored.
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ArtQuench: Thanks for liking my image “The Pope of Broadway”. After watching the mural fade away for the last ten years, I figured I would bring my camera and capture it for posterity.
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Nature’s Child: I think I have mentioned this before but when you photograph someone else’s artwork, you must make it yours by making a statement of your own. Otherwise you’re just recording an object in time. My statement for this mural was, “Please restore me”…and it seems to be working! Thanks for liking “The Pope of Broadway”.
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Edge of Humanity Magazine: I’m glad you could see “The Pope of Broadway”. Not many did. I suppose it is art and social commentary on the vagaries of what is saved in Downtown Los Angeles, and what is not.
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“Lezlie Sokol” Painted Cloud Gallery: I’m so glad you liked this Lezlie. It is easy to enter the surreal in La La Land…perhaps too easy!
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For you…definitely too easy… 😉 Again, I’m looking at this on a cinema display and the fine detail is explosive. I have read the process you went through to make this image. You are indeed a patient man. And a true artist in not only making the initial image but also in taking it all the way home. Bravo!
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“Lezlie Sokol” Painted Cloud Gallery: Thanks for the compliment. I am patient when it comes to art. I am tenacious about putting in the hours to get something right. I want it to be the best I can do.
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You succeed constantly…
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When you work hard at your art over many years, you look back and realize your batting average has greatly improved.
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Yes.
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