Meet Larry Geller | Professional Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Larry Geller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Larry, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I had lost my job in computer industry at Disney and sadly could not find work in the field I had work in for 12 years. I have a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and mostly did work for large companies in Chicago in the 90s. I moved to LA in early 2001. I took a severance from Disney Summer 2001 thinking I could easily find work after a vacation. I haD a plane ticket to Toronto for 9/11/01! Obviously I got a refund. And as you know 9/11 completely tore the country apart. I could not find work in my field. Possibly I could have moved outside of California but I just did not wish to go back to sitting at a desk 50 hours a week. I got an opportunity from Paul V, to take pictures at Dragstrip. I had recently found an interest in photography and somehow Paul had no photographer for his monthly event. It was probably nothing in Paul’s eyes. At first I was just given drink tickets and guest lists. But later was paid competitive rate. But it was not nothing. It was my foot in the door to starting my professional photography career. I made connections (mostly through people I met at Dragstrip over the years) and worked for magazines such as IN and Frontiers. I was sent to Red Carpets like GLAAD awards as well as Outfest and others. I also was the staff photographer for several years at Mickys before it burned down. So to answer the question about thought process of self employment, there was none. That is why I gave you the above history to gain perspective in how I got into being a Pro photographer. I was totally non creative before moving to LA and switching careers. Somehow I organically shifted my personality to a more “Type B” creative. I grew a mohawk and became the gay photographer with a mohawk. I still have it today. Fun fact about red carpets….I used to yell at Celebrities “Look at the tall mohawk” to get them to look into my camera.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I now specialize in mostly performances on stage. I have done live singers performing at places such as Gay Pride. Examples are Jody Watley, Boy George, Christina Aquilera, Nina Hagen, Debbie Harry, just to name a few. The type of performance I most often can be found photographing is drag shows. I go to clubs both in Downtown LA and West Hollywood. I do it less lately since I am getting too old to stay out until 2am. Generally speaking my talent is capturing an event to make the viewer feel as if they are there watching themselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Redline, Precinct, Mickys, Roccos. And occasionally since they have restarted Dragstrip, Los Globos.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Well most definitely Paul Vitagliano. Without my gig at Dragstrip, I might never have started into Pro photography career. I also should mention a writer which I worked with at IN magazine (David Stern was the owner). The writer is Jeremy Kinser. I think he still does writing just unsure for whom. I also worked for a promoter at Mickys named Anthony Lopez. He now sells real estate but he produced many of the events back in the day.

Website: https://photolarry.com

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Image Credits
Photo Larry® https://photolarry.com