Artist News, 10 Photographers Who Captured the Grit and Glamor of L.A. on ARTSY

"Known for palm trees, surfer dudes, and the film industry, Los Angeles and its history are characterized by the city’s laid-back living and Hollywood elegance. Yet L.A. has always been more than meets the eye, bursting at the seams with outsider culture and the idiosyncrasies of everyday life. Over the second half of the 20th century, the city was a muse for pioneering photographers, who both captured its beauty and laid bare its gritty realities."

Photographers include Elliot Erwitt, Robert Frank, Bob Willoughby, Julius Shulman, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, William Eggleston, Bruce Davidson, Mary Ellen Mark, and Catherine Opie.

WILLIAM EGGLESTON:

Finding suitable subjects in a cupboard of foodstuffs, an abandoned bicycle, and anonymous people on city sidewalks, William Eggleston and his intensely hued dye-transfer prints unequivocally thrust the mundane, as well as spectacles, into the spotlight, all while he led the charge into non-commercial color photography.

BRUCE DAVIDSON:

Davidson has consistently brought this sensitivity and novel perspective to subjects ranging from gang members in Brooklyn to the Civil Rights struggle in the South. His images of L.A.—from a carefree surfer youth to the lonesome back of the Hollywood sign—exude this intimate attention.

Read about the excursions across and around L.A. by the several photographers highlighted on artsy.net