christopher mortenson 6/13/25 christopher mortenson 6/13/25

Viva La Raza

I was in Arizona when the ICE protests started in Los Angeles. When I got back into town I was assigned to document the ongoing protests for LA Downtown News. My girlfriend and I made our way to DTLA on Monday evening to see what was going on. We found the protest on the corner of Los Angeles and Temple in DTLA. I will say the tensions were high, but the streets were filled with people peacefully exercising their first amendment rights. That being said as the sun was setting tear gas and flash bangs were used to disperse the crowd. It was my first time being in a situation where at any moment it felt like things could go badly, and let’s just say I didn’t make too many images that day.

I went back on Wednesday June 11th to try again. This time I was mentally prepared. I also rewatched Civil War to get in the zone. The police presence was heavy and I joined the crowd outside of Los Angeles City Hall. People were finishing up some speeches on the city hall steps and then the crowd proceeded to make their way through Grand Park and down Hill St to Pershing Square. The march was peaceful and the support from cars and LA residents was a great thing to see.

christopher mortenson 6/12/25 christopher mortenson 6/12/25

New site, New Vibe.

Windows 95, but real life. Scottsdale, AZ 2024.

My name is Christopher Mortenson, but I go by Morty. I got the nickname when I first moved to LA in 2011 from my good friend and professional BMX rider Gabe Brooks (RIP). I’m from a small town in New Mexico and got into photography at the age of five. My mom was a photographer in the Navy and my aunt was a hobbyist who loved doing underwater photography on her scuba trips. Growing up I wanted to work for National Geographic (still down if they want to send me someplace nice), but in 1998 I got into BMX and all I ever wanted to do was shoot action sports. I graduated from New Mexico State University in 2010 with a BFA in photography. My professor David Taylor helped broaden my photographic horizons and I’m forever grateful for his guidance. In 2011 I got a job as an art director for a street wear company called Quintin Co. They had a BMX team and I slowly started integrating myself into the Los Angeles BMX scene. From 2011-2018 I documented the riding scene in Los Angeles. I used this time to work on my vision and voice as a photographer. It’s always easier to photograph the people around you, and I’m thankful that they trusted some kid from the middle of nowhere to document their lives. I currently work Times Local Media Group as their staff photographer in Los Angeles. It’s a funny story how I got here, but I’ll save that for another day. I started this blog last year to remind myself the importance of making photographs for yourself. I think I posted for a month and then gave up on the blog (not making pictures). So here we are again. After culling through five years of hard drives and battling some imposter syndrome my new website is finished and it’s time to kick off this blog again. The images on this post I showed at the All Visual LA slideshow in March. They are photographs I made for myself. Thanks for reading.