The Seedy, Funky, and Fabulous Hollywood Boulevard of the 1970s

From Hippies to Hookers, One Photographer's Unearthed Photos From a Not-So-Golden Era

In the 1970s, photographer Ave Pildas roamed Hollywood Boulevard, snapping thousands of shots of its many characters in patchwork denim bell-bottoms and floppy hats. There was the group of transvestites who posed next to Judy Garland’s star on the Walk of Fame. And the boy dressed up for Halloween, one hand clenched in a fist and the other holding a devil’s spear. “I kicked his parents out of the picture,” Pildas remembers.

Pildas hadn’t looked at the pictures in years, until a curious reporter, who had heard about his work, …