For those who have lived in the beach cities for many years, some would say they’ve been witnesses to the numerous aesthetic changes in town ranging from the disappearance of old beach bungalows and Craftsman-style home to the closure of familiar “ma and pa” businesses and new face lifts of landmark buildings, some which were erected in the first 25 years of the 20th century.

For two local photographers, John Wayne Miller and Robi Hutas, capturing these changes before and after they occur have become part of their life’s goal as photographers.

As a way of celebrating the past and present of the South Bay, Miller and Hutas will be showing their work this weekend in a photo exhibit called Old-Skool South Bay that is open to the public at the Hermosa Beach Kiwanis Club.

Miller, a South Bay native, first got into photography at the age of 5 when his parents gave him a Brownie Hawkeye camera for his birthday. Miller moved from his home in Hermosa Beach in 1982 to a cabin in a remote area of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. Two years later, he returned to Hermosa Beach with a new appreciation for his Southern California roots. It was during this time he experienced a sense of nostalgia. He noticed changes in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach; and began to photograph subject matter he felt would someday cease to exist.

Miller has exhibited his work at all three summer art walks along Pier Avenue and his work is also on display at the Bank of America on the downtown pier plaza.

Hutas settled in the South Bay in 1958 a few years after immigrating to America from Budapest, Hungary, during the country’s revolution in 1955. He began taking photos that documented the various changes in the South Bay such as the reconstruction of the Redondo Beach strand and the creation of Manhattan Village. He is also well-known for his action volleyball shots that he has captured since the 1970s.

The Beach Reporter this week sat down with both Miller and Hutas, and talked about their life’s work, the show and how the South Bay has changed over the years.

J.W. Miller

The Beach Reporter: Tell me about your experiences living in a cabin in the mountains.

J.W. Miller: I’d always like to ski in Mammoth and fish in Oregon, and I thought I’d like to try living some place other than the beach. I searched all over Oregon for a piece of property and I found one in the woods. My closest neighbor was eight miles away. I had hand-pumped water, no public utilities and a little sawmill that I used to complete work on the cabin I was living in. My girlfriend, Tish, and I would experience winters of 35 below and the only heat we had was, of course, the wood stove. After about two years, I decided it would be best to come back to Southern California (laughs). Tish kept her house in Hermosa after I sold mine and so we moved back into her house on Loma Drive.

At what point did you decide to become a professional photographer?

Well, I started at an early age when my parents bought me a camera. I had taken pictures as a hobby for many years and began to get serious in the 1970s.

After spending two years in the Oregon woods, what kind of initial reactions did you experience upon returning to the South Bay?

I noticed a lot of places had changed, so I started collecting pictures of my favorite haunts. Many of my photographs are of places that are no longer here. I started looking at things in a different light because being away for so long kind of opened my eyes a bit and, of course, things did change. There was the upscaling of Manhattan Beach and I thought Hermosa would follow suit, so I started taking pictures that I previously wouldn’t have photographed. I saw change coming.

So what kind of photos did you take in Hermosa?

Oh, things like the old Hermosa pier, Either/Or Bookstore, the Bijou Theater when it was still a movie theater and the Alamo Apartments.

How did this show come about?

Well, both Robi and I are avid lovers of the beach and both photographers. We thought if we could put our pictures together, we could have a great show of the South Bay. So, this show is of all pictures of the South Bay. Some new, some vintage.

Your pictures will be on canvas. Tell me about this process and the aesthetic quality of this unique medium.

I develop my photos in my home studio and I have a large-format printer. I got addicted to taking my tripod down to the beach and setting it in the sand for sunsets. I wondered if I came to the beach every night if I’d learn something about the sunset patterns. This is actually how I met Robi about 10 years ago and we forged a friendship. The photos on canvas make it a little more “painterly.” I’m not necessarily looking for a photographic image. I’m more into looking for a statement about how I feel about the image.

Do you have any influences growing up?

Well, everyone loved Ansel Adams. I don’t know if he necessarily influenced me but rather the aura of (Edward) Weston and Adams being able to go out into the woods and view for the beauty of it. I was more influenced by the fact that they lived semi-vagabond lives than their actual photos.

Tell me about the exhibit.

Well, the event is open to the public and people will be able to enjoy Hungarian barbecue on the opening night Friday that goes from 7 to 10 p.m. Anyone will be able to buy our photos and mine range from post card sizes at $2.50 to my most expensive at $375 that is 60 inches long by 36 inches high. (Hutas’ pieces range in price from $50 to the thousands).

Robi Hutas

The Beach Reporter: How did you ever end up in Hermosa Beach from Hungary?

Robi Hutas: Well, when I landed in New York off the boat, right. (Laughs.) I stayed in New Jersey in a refugee area. From there, if you had relatives they took you out of there; and if you did have relatives but not locally, then they gave you a train ticket to the destination where your relative is. I had an uncle who was born in Detroit and lived in Phoenix. So my first home was in Phoenix and I couldn’t handle it, I had headaches from the temperatures. I stayed there about a year and a half. I met a couple of Hungarian refugees who needed a ride to California and so I gave them one since they said the wages were much better there. I got here in 1958. In 1961, I was drafted in the Army for the Vietnam War and I was all over the place, involved in the civil riots in Mississippi and Alabama as military police. I got out two years later and settled in Hermosa Beach. I’ve been living here for 40 years.

What were your first experiences like here in the South Bay?

As a kid I grew up near the Danube River so I was always kind of like a water boy anyway. When I got to California, my first real job in this country was at Metlox (Manhattan Beach). The reason I stayed at the beach is because the times were much different. I was paid 90 cents an hour, and I was able to live in a one-bedroom apartment a block from the beach and drive a 4-year-old Studebaker. Can you imagine a person today making minimum wage living one block from the beach?

How did you first get into photography?

All my life I’ve been a photographer, since I was a kid. I’ve really enjoyed it. When I moved here, I became much more involved in it. I tried to photograph everything I could in the South Bay. I photographed a lot of volleyball. I used to take photos when I was a kid and l love taking action photos more than anything else, I never liked still pictures in the sense that people are posing. A camera to me is almost like a companion.

What other areas of the country would you like to photograph?

I don’t know much about the Midwest and the East, and I would like to someday go there and take photos. It would be great to go down to the south and come up the east coast over the north. Maybe one day, if I live long enough (laughs).

What is it about photography that you like so much?

I love the beach, bodysurfing and I love the mountains, camping, climbing and skiing on them. So, I just strap on my camera and it almost seems like the perfect marriage between the things I love so much.

How did you select the Kiwanis Club as the event space?

Well, all artists have the same problem. We never have enough space to show our work, so here we finally have a big enough room to put up some nice big pieces of work, big enough than just eight or 10 pieces.

You also paint watercolors that will be display and for sale. What is your subject matter for this artwork?

People, animals, but mainly scenery. I love scenery.

The event is open to the public the entire weekend at the Kiwanis Club at 2515 Valley Drive. The opening night is Friday, Nov. 12, from 7 to 10 p.m. Both food and beverages are free to those who attend. Miller and Hutas will also show their work Saturday, Nov. 13, and Sunday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.