Meet Janiss Garza: Capturing Eagle Rock Scenes Through Her Lens

As a journalist and photographer, Eagle Rock resident Janiss Garza has nearly done it all. She was at the heart of the '80s rock scene as an editor of one of metal's leading publications, Rip. She has photographed concerts for such music magazines as Spin. She brought Motorhead singer Lemmy Kilmister's story to the masses as co-author of White Line Fever.

But in the past several years Garza has put her writing and photography skills to two of her other passions in life to get her journalistic fix—cats and her stomping grounds of the past 16 years, Eagle Rock. After a healthy career in rock journalism, the award-winning scribe and photographer tackled the topics of fitness and vintage film critiques (silent and pre-code). Most recently, she has become renowned as a cat writer. And a successful one at that—Garza has won Muse Medallions from the Cat Writers Association for her photography and her articles in Cat Fancy magazine.

Garza is the, ahem, "editor" and photographer of two books written by her adored cat, Sparkle, titled Dear Sparkle: Cat-to-Cat Advice From the Worlds Foremost Feline Columnist and Dear Sparkle: Advice From One Cat to Another. Sparkle, in fact, is an award-winning blogger as well, having won two Pettie Awards (the pet blogging equivalent of an Oscar) and scored a win in the Wild Card Category at the Hollywood Book Festival as well as the Animal/Pets: Novelty and Interior Design categories of the USA "Best Book 2010" Awards for her advice books.

And just last month, this career multi-asker she has started up a photo blog called Eagle Rock Scenes, in which she uses her camera to record slices of life around our culturally rich neighborhood. One of her Eagle Rock Scenes post, titled “Photo Hunt: Play,” even garnered widespread attention when it received more than 73,000 views on Stumbleupon.

So, without further adieu, meet Janiss Garza:

Eagle Rock Patch: When did you first get into photography?

Janiss Garza: My dad was a photographer—in fact, at 92, he still is! But what really got me into it was a combination of filmmaking and rock and roll. I started shooting rock bands in the mid-1980s. I already knew about shooting in low light and concert situations from attending LACC film school. I had a bunch of old-school techniques for shooting shows that don't even apply in the digital world now—"pushing" film and developing it in a certain brand of developer—and created some nice portraiture of artists performing and some cool action shots. I got lots of practice—I was going to clubs five nights a week! My photos appeared in a number of rock magazines, including Spin. I don't think any of the other mags exist anymore.

[Some of Garza’s early music photos are included in the photo section of this post.]

Eagle Rock Patch: What inspired you to create the Eagle Rock Scenes blog?

Janiss Garza: I've spent most of this millennium taking photos of cats for Sparkle's blog (http://www.sparklecat.com) and wanted to do something different. I felt like I had something to say about Eagle Rock that I could do photographically. I've had the eaglerockscenes.com domain for a while now, but what really got me going was getting an iPhone 4 earlier this year. It has an amazing camera—better than my first digital that I got from my dad in 2002. Although I use a Sony DSC-HX1 for much of my on-the-fly shooting, the iPhone makes it even easier still. I've also gotten into Photoshop and Perfect Photo Suite software to digitally manipulate photos and that alone has been a big inspiration. I don't do anything radical or earthshaking with the software, but I love enhancing the mood of the scenes I shoot.

Eagle Rock Patch: Tell us about how you go about capturing Eagle Rock Scenes.

Janiss Garza: Since I always have my iPhone with me, I am ready to shoot anything around town that strikes me. Sometimes the iPhone won't do the job or it's the wrong time of day and the light isn't right, so I'll go back with an actual camera. I do a fitness walk at least once a week around Eagle Rock (I do some form of exercise most days of the week), and I almost always find something to shoot then. I don't always set out to make a statement, but if the opportunity pops up (like the time I saw a homeless man sleeping on the lawn of ), I'll grab it.

Eagle Rock Patch: What makes Eagle Rock a special place to live, work, and capture through your lens?

Janiss Garza: It has great diversity—it's like a microcosm of Los Angeles. It has estates and gritty areas. It's urban and suburban. It's home to hipsters and to people who don't even have homes. It has cool vintage architecture and a community that cares enough to want to preserve it. It's quirky and multi-ethnic. I've lived in Eagle Rock since 1996 and have owned three different homes here. It's endlessly fascinating.

Eagle Rock Patch: Tell us about the park exercise equipment photos that got the 73K hits on Stumble upon. What inspired you to photograph that?

Janiss Garza: I found that outdoor workout space on one of my walks. I'm not sure when it was put there, but the moment I saw it, I loved the idea of it, because I am a fitness fanatic. I had to go back a couple of times to get the photos I wanted. And yes, I have tried most of the equipment. The air walkers are my favorite—there's no parallel for them at the gym.

Eagle Rock Patch: What are your favorite places in Eagle Rock?

Janiss Garza: I don't know if I have a "favorite" place—it depends on my mood and what I'm looking for. I love ! I used to live half a block from there—that was the best location ever. I love and and I get turkey burgers from frequently. One part of Eagle Rock that I love and want to mention because it does not get anywhere near enough attention is the park where the is, just south of the 134 and west of Figueroa. It's a lovely, peaceful place and during the week, I rarely see many people there. It's also where the outdoor workout area is. [Read Patch's related story story about the February 2011 opening of this fitness area.] As for Sparkle’s favorite place, she’s indoor, so it would be my house. She enjoys looking out the leaded glass doors to the back patio for some Bird and Squirrel TV. That's also where we have some catnip growing.

Eagle Rock Patch: What is next?

Janiss Garza: I will be opening a Zazzle store featuring some of my best images soon (Sparkle already has one: http://www.zazzle.com/designercat), and eventually I would like to have a gallery showing. Photography aside, I am working on a couple of book projects—a novel in a genre I refer to as "cat noir," and a new book from Sparkle. I have a boutique publishing imprint, FitCat Publishing, and this year I plan to start putting out books from other authors who I have hand-picked. And I will be at the Eagle Rock Library on Thursday, April 12, to talk about how people can better understand their cats and cat behavior by looking at the world through a cat's eyes. I'll be drawing heavily from Sparkle's two cat-to-cat advice books for examples, so it will be a fun event!

Jannis Garza will talk the world of cats—and humans—at the Eagle Rock Library at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 12. Her lecture is titled "Learning To Think Like Your Cat."