I’m fascinated by how folks know each other and how different networks overlap.
San Pedro photographer Diane Cockerill knows my friend Stephen Levey, and she agreed to show his limited-edition photographs in a show called Anemoia. Why limited edition? That’s where the compelling part of this story lies.
According to news reports, Levey was riding his motorcycle along Pacific Coast Highway in November 2022 when he was nearly killed in a multi-vehicle crash. Astonishing footage from his helmet camera shows a truck flying toward him as he sat at a red light at PCH and Kanan Dume Road.
The truck landed on top of him, sending him to the hospital via helicopter.
According to investigators, the truck was broadsided by a driver traveling at extremely high speeds in a stolen Lexus who ignored a red light, causing the crash. The car then burst into flames, killing the thief.
Levey did, however, suffer an injury to a limb he uses on a day-to-day basis to earn an income. As a professional photographer, Levey requires full use of his right hand, which was shattered from his elbow to his fingers.
Born in Los Angeles in 1967, Levey told me, “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a photographer. Most of my childhood pictures were lost in a fire, but there was more than one picture of me as an infant holding a camera. Originally it was a hobby, and many years later, one picture led to my becoming a photographer. This was something I never even dreamt of and before I knew, it became my new career.”
He continued, “Once I was an established ‘professional photographer,’ the ad firm representing Apple contacted me regarding some of my images. Once they started digging into my story and saw I only used an iPhone, they became very interested in working with me. Eventually my relationship with Apple became so successful that I could just email Tim Cook directly.”
As for Diane, she and her husband, Bruce Cockerill, were living near Downtown Los Angeles in an art colony but were priced out. She notes, “We wanted to be part of another art-driven community, and San Pedro fit the bill. Our friend, Jeff Alu, recommended the building where we now live (the former San Pedro News-Pilot headquarters), and we were thrilled to find the live/work studio available.”
As with Levey, Diane and Bruce received cameras at an early age and were both visually oriented. Bruce’s mother and Diane’s father were instrumental in fostering an early interest in photography, and that interest continued later as each pursued other career paths.
Bruce was born in Ohio and moved to California to attend Chouinard/Cal Arts. His successful graphic design career included working for Saul Bass and Associates among other firms, opening his own graphic design company, then transitioning to high-end fine art framing. He retired in 2014 to pursue photography.
Diane is a fourth-generation Angeleno who attended UCLA and majored in Fine Arts. She spent more than thirty years in the advertising industry at several agencies in Los Angeles, Venice, and El Segundo, working in production, art direction, and management. She retired in 2013 to pursue street photography full time.
Diane and Bruce met Levey at a gallery in 2018 and have remained friends since.
“We are pleased to show some of [Stephen Levey’s] work in our gallery,” says Diane. “Because of the life-altering accident, Levey will be unable to attend the openings, but he will be here in spirit.”
The theme of Levey’s black-and-white images is “anemoia,” which means a feeling of nostalgia for a time, place, or historical era that one has never personally lived through or experienced. All images were photographed in Nevada in 2018.
Diane and Bruce Cockerill’s gallery (364 W. 7th Street) will be open First Thursday evening, October 1, and again on Second Saturday, October 10, from 2-5 p.m.
You can find a GoFundMe to help Levey by searching the keywords “I’m the motorcyclist from PCH, Kanan Dume accident.” spt
Do you have arts and culture ideas? Please share them via email: 55lindagrimes@gmail.com.
Linda Grimes is the executive director of the San Pedro Waterfront Arts District and can be reached at 55lindagrimes@gmail.com.
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