T. Chick McClure (2020)

T. Chick McClure (b. 1971) is an artist and transgender human born at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, where they were assigned female at birth.⁠ Chick spent the early part of their childhood moving from one military town to another until, at the age of 10, they landed in Pensacola, Florida. Eventually, Chick's parents divorced. Chick stayed in Florida through their high school years when Chick's mother began to struggle with the disease of hoarding.⁠ Encouraged to develop a portfolio and apply to art schools by his art teachers, they soon received the acceptance that would send them to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where they focused on painting and drawing.⁠ After receiving their BFA, they moved to Los Angeles and became a writer and animation director. Chick’s work in animation garnered numerous awards, including a Latin Grammy and VMA for Best Animated Music Video. Though successful, they felt burned out and creatively unfulfilled, making other people's art and telling other people's stories.⁠ One day, they woke up and realized that this was not their practice life and decided it was time to get real about creating their own art. And they decided it was time to finally face their gender identity, which Chick had suppressed until turning 45. Soon after they transitioned. And picked up a camera.⁠ Today, they use a camera to tell their own stories, to make their own art. They use it to explore themes of gender, authenticity, and assumption. They use the camera to put their emotional life inside. What cannot be told verbally, Chick tells you in pictures.⁠ T. Chick McClure happily resides in Los Angeles with his love and two rescue mutts.⁠

Their LA River X takeover shows a moody, noir, and vibrant-in-the-dark Los Angeles River, a rarely seen view...and a refreshing counterpoint to breezy blue skies and endless sunshine.

See T. Chick's takeover in the Western Water Archives.
Follow T. Chick on Instagram.

Tim Andreas (2023)

Tim Andreas has been an architect and designer for over 30 years, always searching for ways to bring life into the inanimate world.  His photographic practice records his practice of awe walking, that immersive practice of walking in nature that researchers agree makes people feel more grateful, compassionate, and connected.

His LA River X takeover delves deep into his regular walking path at the Glendale Narrows, a place where he enjoys the “surreal interconnection between nature, the concrete banks and so much trash. Somehow nature still thrives.”

See Tim's takeover in the Western Water Archives.
Follow Tim on Instagram.

Tod Seelie (2023)

A photographer with a love for the unique and appreciating found beauty, Tod has photographed in twenty-five countries on five different continents and is currently loosely based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, TIME,  Wired, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, BBC Travel, Stern Magazine, Der Speigel, Juxtapoz, Thrasher, Vice and Alta Journal. His images also appear in the feature films Perfect Sense (2011) and Empire Me (2011). He has exhibited work in many solo and group shows including at Mass MoCA and the Philadelphia Art Alliance. He has presented his work at the Aperture Foundation and Feature Shoot’s The Blow Up. His work has also appeared in photography and art books, such as The Vice Photo Book, Hijacked, Art & Agenda: Political Art & Activism, The Sense of Movement: When Artists Travel, Rock the Boat, Street World and Backyard Shakedown. The New York Times described Tod’s work as transfixing and we wholeheartedly agree.

His LA River X takeover features images created at night, revealing aspects of the River usually not seen or appreciated.

Tod has not joined the Western Water Archives.
Follow Tod on Instagram.

Tracy Stone (2021)

Tracy Stone is an accomplished architect who lives and works in Frogtown. Tracy started her own firm in 1991 after working for award-winning architects Raymond and Finn Kappe. Tracy’s firm, Tracy A. Stone Architect, has designed everything from a boarding facility for dogs to a brewery to a variety of small lot subdivisions, single family homes, and affordable housing units. Tracy’s architectural ethos prioritizes design that is green, sustainable, environmentally responsive, and even regenerative - design that gives back more to the environment than it takes away. She is a member of the US Green Building Council, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional, and an approved Historical Consultant through the City of Los Angeles. Tracy is a founder of the much-loved Frogtown Artwalk, which has been a part of the river’s cultural landscape since 2006. After a resiliently successful pandemic virtual Artwalk in 2020, the 2022 iteration is set to be a triumphant return to real life programming. She also collaborated with Frogtown neighbors, the council office, and city planning to rewrite the Q Conditions governing urban development in the area and worked with the LA Department of Building and Safety on the Green Building Code Technical Advisory Committee. During the pandemic and quarantine, Tracy found herself documenting the river’s birds

Her LA River X takeover includes a selection of her bird photography along with Tracy’s reflections on community, architecture, nature, pollution, and more. 

See Tracy's takeover in the Western Water Archives.

Follow Tracy on Instagram.

Trinity Zhang (2022)

Trinity Zhang is a Chinese-American concept artist and illustrator. A self-declared “LA River Frequenter”, Trinity has lived next to the Glendale Narrows her entire life. From biking the river with her family in childhood, to finding artistic inspiration at the river in adulthood, the LA River has always felt like home.⁠

Her LA River X takeover shares photos and reflections from the Glendale Narrows 

See Trinity's takeover in the Western Water Archives.

Follow Trinity on Instagram.

UCLA students taking 'Environmental Journalism, Science Communications, and New Media' (2020)

In the Winter Quarter, Professor Jon Christensen and TA Emma Barnosky led their students in a bold learning exercise: to explore the LA River and experiment with using Instagram to communicate environmental messages. Collectively, the students' takeover offered 78 ways to see the river, and every single one sparked interest and conversations, online and off⁠.

The UCLA  takeover has not been ingested into the Western Water Archives (for rights reasons) but it can be enjoyed by scrolling way back on the LA River X Instagram account.

Walking Water (2021)

Walking Water is a movement established in California in 2012 that invites people to explore their relationship with water, by walking, relating, and learning together.⁠⁠

Their LA River X takeover retraces some of the steps of a Walking Water pilgrimage that took place during 2015-2017, with people walking from Mono Lake to Los Angeles.⁠

Walking Water's takeover is being ingested into the Western Water Archives.
Follow Walking Water on Instagram.