by Tom Short
At some point after 2010, but before 2016 (it’s all a little hazy) I purchased a stack of contact sheets. I think they were in a thrift store in Tahoe, but I can’t recall exactly. I purchased them and promptly put them in a corner of the garage.
It was a few years later when I took the time to go through them. The photographer was J. David Lanza, though he seems to have dropped the “J” for his photography business. I think his first name was Joe. The contact sheets were full of scenes from Balboa Island – likely in the mid 70s. And a story emerged, though most of it is guesses.
By everything I can figure out, Lanza was a studio photographer, but also a street photographer – shooting adults and kids around the streets of Balboa Island near California’s Newport Beach. The photography instantly clicked with me. And the stacks of contact sheets seemed a window into some sort of ideal lazy California living.
The essay I wrote for Midnight Mind Number Seven in 2024, which included several contact sheets reproduced, was after the result of trying to find out more about Lanza. A few things are known:
- He wrote (and self published) a book of poetry called, My Ocean, in 1976. We know it’s the same Lanza because the book was published from Balboa Island and included a photo that matches the business card I got that came in the stack of contact sheets
- He had a daughter names Aprile (I did find an Aprile Lanza online and emailed her but never head back)
- His street photography is awesome.
Oddly, while researching him early on – years back – I immediately found an article about him online. But, once I sat down to actually write the essay for Midnight Mind Number Seven, I could no longer find the article.
So, we wanted to put up some of his photos so that others can find them and enjoy them. We’ll release more soon, and hopefully add to the story…
