Where We Live

I was browsing the photography section at Barnes and Noble the other day, and came across the book from an exhibition I saw in 2006 or 2007 at the Getty Center, called Where We Live. It's a collection brought together by Los Angeles film producer Bruce Berman.

I had forgotten how amazing the work was - steeped in that beautiful rustic americana that I've always loved. Stylistically speaking, the entire collection was heavily produced, with great lighting and richly oversaturated colors. It created a really beautiful irony - a sense of hyper-realism layered on top of what for most people could almost be said to be sub-real subject matter, in the sense that the despair and hardship depicted is not relevant to "most people." It really told a compelling story about the working class and the struggle for a sense of community within a world so much bigger than any one individual. Some of the photographers represented in the collection include: Mitch Epstein, Robert Adams, William Eggleston, Robert Dawson and maybe a dozen others.

The book was really nice - large size, and had pretty much the whole collection. $50, but I think well worth it. The cover page for the exhibition is still up on the Getty Center's website as well - check it out if you have a chance: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/berman/

--Paul

http://www.paulsearsphotography.com/

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