Three centuries ago, the Los Angeles River meandered through
marshes and forests of willow and sycamore. Trout spawned in its
waters, and grizzly bears roamed its shores in search of food. The
river and its adjacent woodlands helped support one of the largest
concentrations of indigenous peoples in North America, and it also
largely determined the location of the first Spanish Pueblo and
ultimately the city of Los Angeles. The river was also the city’s
sole source of water for more than a century before flood-control
projects made the L.A. River what it is today. Michael Kolster, in
L.A. River, relies on a nineteenth-century photographic technology
to render the Los Angeles River today, from its headwaters in
Canoga Park and the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley to its mouth
at the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach. Coincidentally, the founding of
the city of Los Angeles and California’s achievement of statehood
in 1850 coincide historically with the invention of the wet-plate
photographic process, forever linking the city and state with the
centrality of photography. The moving images that define L.A. River
show a feature of the city’s landscape that initially attracted
native peoples to its banks and gave rise to the formation of our
nation’s second-largest city. Channeled in concrete during the
last century to control flooding, the river was all but removed
from the life of the city until the turn of the twenty-first
century, when concerted efforts were made by some to peel back some
of the concrete and to let nature live once again. In his
photographic journey, Kolster considers both the past and present
and how the accumulation of life along the river suggests a larger
a role for the L.A. River in the lives of the city’s inhabitants.
General
Imprint: |
George F. Thompson
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2019 |
Authors: |
Michael Kolster
|
Contributors: |
D.J. Waldie
• Frank Gohlke
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 280mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
138 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-938086-64-9 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-938086-64-3 |
Barcode: |
9781938086649 |
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