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Press Kit:

This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs
June 14 - Sept. 15, 2008 Boone Gallery and Library West Hall

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A sprawling, multi-ethnic city on the edge of a continent, Los Angeles conjures up imagery as seductive and contradictory as the place itself, equal parts glamour and cataclysm, sunshine and noir. For more than 150 years, photographers have been capturing the landscape, people, and sprawling urban forms of Los Angeles, documenting—and mythologizing—this seminal American city.

“This Side of Paradise” examines the relationship between Los Angeles and the art of photography from the mid-19th century to the present, focusing on the emergence of a distinct Los Angeles “style” of visual expression. Comprising approximately 250 images from The Huntington’s photographic collections as well as other important lenders, the exhibit will use landscape and the human body as key themes through which both the city and its photographic self-image have been projected. From L.A.’s beaches, freeways, and sprawling suburban tracts, to the city’s pervasive celebration of physical culture and Hollywood glamour, the imagery encapsulates both the glories and the unfulfilled promises of the great American enterprise. More about the exhibition...

Press Release
About Gallery Designers Kevin Daly and Chris Genik and Artist Allan Sekula
About the Photography Collection at The Huntington

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Photo Captions

Oliver in a Tutu	Catherine Opie, Oliver in a Tutu, 2004. C-print, 24 x 20 in. © Catherine Opie, Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Hollywood Negro Ballet	Unknown, Members of the Hollywood Negro Ballet in a publicity photograph for Ebony, November 1953. Modern archival inkjet print from original gelatin silver print 16 x 20 in. Joseph Rickard papers, © The Huntington
Muscle Beach	Max Yavno, Muscle Beach, 1949. Gelatin-silver print 16 x 20 in. © The Huntington
Dolores Del Rio	Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Dolores Del Rio, Hollywood, 1938. Gelatin-silver print 12 ½ x 10 in. © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents
Woman in Curlers	Larry Sultan, Woman in Curlers, 2002. Chromogenic print, 50 x 60 in. © Larry Sultan. Courtesy Stephen Wirtz Gallery
Girl with Curlers	Ida Wyman, Girl with Curlers, Los Angeles, 1949. Gelatin-silver print, 14 x 11 in. © Ida Wyman, Courtesy Stephen Cohen Gallery
Inglewood	Joe Deal, Inglewood, California, 1978. Gelatin-silver print, 11¼ x 11¼ in. © Joe Deal, Courtesy Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona
Hermosa Beach Strand	Leroy Grannis, Hermosa Beach Strand. 1967, printed 2007. Chromogenic print, 36 x 36 in. © Leroy Grannis, Courtesy M + B
Selma and Vine	John Humble, Selma Avenue at Vine Street, Hollywood, January 23, 1991, 1991. C-print, 38½ x 30 in. © John Humble, Courtesy Jan Kesner Gallery
Street Scene	G. Haven Bishop, Street scene at night with illuminated sign advertising the Mission Play at the San Gabriel Mission, Los Angeles, April 12, 1915. Modern archival print from vintage negative, 20 x 16 in. Southern California Edison archive, © The Huntington
Double Standard	Dennis Hopper, Double Standard, 1961, printed later. Gelatin-silver print, 16 x 24 in. Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, © 2008 Museum Associates/LACMA
Santa Monica Canyon	Carleton E. Watkins, Santa Monica Canyon, 1877. Albumen print, 5½” x 41/8 in. © The Huntington
Edit Nine	One of 15 photographs in the Allan Sekula outdoor installation Edit Nine, 2008. © The Huntington
Exhibition image 1-3	Images from the exhibition, inside the Boone Gallery. © The Huntington