Los Angeles-based photographer Julien Sage captures the unique spirit of Venice, California, in his most recent series. “Finding a relaxing space to exist outside of your home has been an ongoing struggle for anyone who is living in a city during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says, explaining that since the city’s first lockdown, “public spaces in LA have taken on new and more important functions, acting as respites and reprieves from the monotony of one’s own home during this time of isolation.” Retaining its eccentric identity, through gentrification and worldwide pandemic, Venice has served as a small slice of normalcy in the midst of the chaos of our current reality. “These photographs mean a lot of different things but inevitably I hope they can communicate a message of resilience and authenticity and show Venice for what it is,” Sage describes. “An organism in and of itself that refuses to change, no matter how much the city around it does.”

See more from “Venice Beach” below!