\u2018The black cloud emerged from a grate in the street. I guess something underground was on fire. It was hilariously cinematic \u2013 just one of those eerie, spontaneous things that happen in a city\u2019<\/p>\n
This image was taken in 2011 or 2012, just after I had moved to Los Angeles. I was downtown, an area I don\u2019t go to that much, walking around with my camera. Some black smoke started to emerge from a grate in the street \u2013 I guess something underground was on fire. It was hilariously cinematic, as if some sort of devil was going to appear. It was really just one of those eerie, spontaneous things that happen in a city. There is a very powerful feeling of surrender when I am photographing. I have to submit to the authority of ignorance when I\u2019m out there.<\/p>\n
I grew up in San Jose, which is a sprawling American suburb \u2013 there\u2019s no city about it. I came to LA because I was depressed where I lived, and I had just met my future wife, who didn\u2019t want to live in San Jose either. LA is not really a city, it\u2019s hundreds of places. You can drive 15 minutes and be in a completely different environment \u2013 the beach, the mountains. There\u2019s a weird sentience to the city, if you let it take you. I get an inexplicable desire to just get in the car and go.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/f0041683b6ceee70b2f2d80eeb98912c66f219da\/294_0_2955_2365\/master\/2955.png?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=7bf3a42dd2e9173f7c758918408a874a\" "\\"\u2018I")
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