Mulholland Drive - Opening Scenes

David Lynch, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, Michael Stipe, Vladimir Nabokov, David Hockney and more - a long list of artists have contributed work to the myth that is Mulholland Drive.

In the words of writer David Thomson it is an iconographical road from which God and the Devil cast their eyes upon one of the most fascinating cities in the world: Los Angeles.

Mulholland Drive, not only home to stars and billionaires but also a place of love and adventure – 55 miles atop the hills between Hollywood and the ocean.
Its wild canyons a place where many girls fall victim to crime.

Eckhart Schmidt’s latest photo project is an "art photo novella“.
In eleven "Opening Scenes“ Schmidt describes the beginning of eleven girls’ destinies.
A photographic tale about girls stranded on Mulholland Drive.
How the stories end is up to every observer’s imagination.

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Opening Scene One

"We had a fight about absolutely nothing. The usual. He stopped the car. He got out and took the keys with him"

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Opening Scene Two:

"Never go with a stranger, my mother told me. He took me to Mulholland Drive to meet some friends. But out of the blue, he changed his mind"

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Opening Scene Three

"This is what Jack Nicholson calls a pool party?! He invites 20 girls, has them picked up by drivers, looks them over and decides who stays. I had to leave"

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Opening Scene Four

"Hell! No! Not me! I hate these cameras that catch every move you make. A John called. He has seen my ad in LA weekly. The one that says: I´m the one that will make you happy."

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Opening Scene Five

"What is wrong with a blind date? I´m 24 and I haven´t had a boyfriend in 5 years."

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Opening Scene Six

"Perhaps I should earn my money as a hooker."

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Opening Scene Seven

"I´m just coming out of rehab, but I don´t happen to be a star"

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Opening Scene 8

"They think I´m mad. And maybe I am, completely crazy. Read an ad in LA Weekly: Ophelia wanted. No pay."

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Opening Scene 9

"Go to the cops right now and tell them what I did? Nope!"

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Opening Scene Ten

"What can I say? I just love it out here. Only one thing irritated me lately, when Steve made like a funny remark about my boyfriend seeing other men."

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Opening Scene Eleven

"I´m going to tell the detectives what I did. In the media I´m going to be the bitch that betrayed her lover. I know I have to live with it."


The End/ Das Ende.

Georgie Moments In The Lives Of Brit And Ava

Brit: Just hanging out! I feel really lonely. I wonder what Ashton is up to. I can’t get him out of my mind. He’s so hot!

Brit: I love nature. I can really relate to my favorite tree. We are both twisted and blown apart by the wind of time, gnarled and injured. Thank heaven my pants are comfy.

Brit: I am soooo drowsy. Got to get some oxygen in my brain!

Gotta change my mood. White, Let the light into my life. Ah, the ocean breeze, the sun on my skin. I know I’ll see Ashton again.

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Girl Fight:

Brit to roommate Ava who shows up on Ocean Blvd.:
What are YOU doing here? I can’t believe you have the nerve to wear my blue Georgies. You know they are my favorite pants.

Brit: How dare you wear my blue Georgies? Because of you I had to grab these Georgies. They are much to long for me.

Ava: I´m going to wear those Georgies too if you don´t stop bitching, baby.

Brit: Don’t you call me baby! You stop bitching, bitch! Don´t think I don´t know that you met Ashton behind my back.

Ava: Only to protect you, hon! And by the way, I didn´t call him. He called me. And just so that you know: we made out.

Brit: yeah right, you kissed Asthon as a kind of sacrifice to protect me. Sure!

Ava: Exactly, hon. To show you what kind of guy he is.



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Girl Reunion

Ava: You´re still too young for love.

Brit: Did Ashton say that?

Ava: No, but I do. He´ll break your heart and throw you away.

Brit: What if I want my heart broken and want to been thrown away?

Ava: Don´t be silly.

The girls hang out. Brit thinks about everything that Ava said.

Brit: Perhaps you´re right, I´m young. I am only 17 and never had a real boyfriend.

Ava: Let’s get a new perspective!

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Girls' Night Out

Ava: Funny, you´re wearing the white Georgies. I´m wearing the blacks.

Brit: Yep, you´re the devil.

Ava: And you´re the angel, hon.

Still friends. Still best friends.

Ava and Brit: Let’s toast to being BFFs!

Georgie Girls Unite!

Performed by Britney Newton and Ava Vassileva.

Eckhart Schmidt Photography

The End.

Ava and Amber Stranded In Downtown L.A.

Tough end to a rad night. Ava and Amber, thrown out of the club at daybreak. Loaded. Girls behaving badly.


Lost on Broadway, no cell phones, no purses. Confused and hung over.
What now? Where am I? Who am I?

Get away from me, man. Get that camera out of my face!

Eckhart shot anyway. He loves the Ann Ferriday collection.

Ava and Amber are wearing it.


Eckhart Schmidt Photography 2009

Homage To Johnny Grant and Hollywood Boulevard

Eckhart's Eye On The Famous Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt

The documentarian and cultural critic in Eckhart could not escape the impact of the new t-shirt phenomenon: the Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt. President Barack Obama and Steve Jobs wear it, so does the rest of the world. Available online only from The Mountain company. Eckhart put the famous shirt on two models, photographed against the stark backdrop of nitty-gritty urban Los Angeles. Los Lobos in the City of Angels.