{"id":3088,"date":"2016-09-15T14:04:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T21:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curatingla.com\/?p=3088"},"modified":"2016-09-15T15:49:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T22:49:23","slug":"renato-dagostin-photographs-los-angeles-and-mines-the-citys-collective-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/curatingla.com\/cla\/2016\/09\/15\/renato-dagostin-photographs-los-angeles-and-mines-the-citys-collective-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Renato D\u2019Agostin Photographs Los Angeles and Mines the City\u2019s Collective Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are different ways to represent, and share one’s impressions of, a place. Photographers use light to define their subject as they see it, while writers use words to describe, explain and tell stories about particular settings. In a recently published book called Archaeologies: LA, Italian photographer Renato D\u2019Agostin<\/a> and CalArts urban historian Norman Klein<\/a> turn their attention to Los Angeles and explore, through images and words respectively, the meaning, nature and collective memory of the city.<\/p>\n

The complementary and intertwined takes on Los Angeles, one visual, the other narrative, appear sequentially in the book, with the Klein essay presented after the photos. I like that structure, because it allowed me to experience D\u2019Agostin\u2019s beautiful black and white images without any preconceived notion of their meaning.<\/p>\n

The photographs presented in Archaeologies: LA capture many aspects of the city as I experience it – beauty, solitude and longing come to mind. At the same time, the collection explores the idealized image of the city juxtaposed with traces of its hidden character, as well as the sense of possibility that permeates the place that Angelenos call home.<\/p>\n

As is my custom when looking at a book of photographs for the first time, I leafed through the pages, stopping on one folio, turning back to another, and moving forward again. Some pictures immediately resonated with me, such as the four below:<\/p>\n

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Other images grew on me after repeated\u00a0viewings, such as these two.<\/p>\n

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The book\u2019s large format is ideally suited for its subject matter. Just as the city seems to stretch out forever \u2013 an unending collection of subdivisions, linear boulevards, and sweeping freeways punctuated by mountain ranges and clusters of tall buildings, D\u2019Agostin\u2019s photographs are expansive, bleed off the pages and often incorporate striking visual elements that capture your attention.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Agostin\u2019s storytelling prowess is evident by the way in which he lays out the book. In some cases single images spread across\u00a0facing pages, while other photos appear opposite one another \u2013 effectively calling attention to some relationship between the subjects.<\/p>\n

Interspersed\u00a0throughout the book\u00a0D\u2019Agostin also pairs individual photographs with a dark, black page, thereby highlighting the\u00a0details in the picture and enabling the viewer to perceive things that might otherwise go\u00a0unnoticed. I found these single page photographs both quiet and calming.<\/p>\n

As Norman Klein writes in his essay A Brief Archaeology of Light<\/em>, \u201cWe study the intrusions set up by Renato D\u2019Agostin in his photographs. He calls his method \u2018the archaeology of a city through images.\u2019 Page by page, we gradually notice the clues that he leaves for us, the encoded memory: A softness, a twist of light on a face; or the DNA diagram of a cityscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who want to learn more about the photographer, I highly recommend the following video. In it, D\u2019Agostin speaks poetically about his creative process, which\u00a0when understood, adds a completely different dimension to your experience of the book.<\/p>\n