AS ORIGINALLY SEALED COPY!
Background information
For this project, 'Seventy-Two and One Half Miles Across Los Angeles', American landscape photographer and educator Mark RUWEDEL travelled across Los Angeles between 2011-2014, following in the footsteps of friend and author Nigel Raab. His carefully planned route spanning 72.5 miles began at his house in Westchester and ended at the Metro station in San Bernardino; a route chosen to cross as many geographic, economic, political and cultural boundaries as possible.
Content
The views and sights we see in this photo volume with black and white photographs, 'Seventy-Two and One Half Miles Across Los Angeles' by Mark RUWEDEL, reflect several legacies: from writer Nigel Raab’s own journey, to that of Los Angeles artist & photographer Ed RUSCHA, whose artist books provided an inspiration throughout the course of the project.
Book reviews
- "Mark RUWEDEL is something of a conjurer, a sorcerer or perhaps a delicately performed master of minimal contrivance." (© American Suburb X)
"As time slipped by, I passed sun-bleached and stuccoed homes with empty front lawns; no one was on the porch ready with a friendly wave as I walked by. The walk was, in fact, an exercise in solitude because few Angelenos take advantage of their extensive sidewalks." (© Nigel Raab)
"'Seventy-Two and One Half Miles Across Los Angeles' by Mark RUWEDEL is (...) not only a book of landscapes. No, it goes beyond that. Looking at the images one after another, you start to slowly understand that, collectively, it is a portrait of Los Angeles. There is beauty there, and even humor, at least in my reading of it. Upon further inspection, I find that the book is also a portrait of Ruwedel himself. For three years, Mark RUWEDEL traversed the streets of Los Angeles, following in the footsteps of Nigel Raab, a friend and author. The route he traveled was 72.5 miles long, beginning at his house in Westchester and ending at the Metro station in San Bernardino. According to the publisher of the book, the route was chosen so that 'as many geographic, economic, political and cultural boundaries' would be crossed. Interestingly enough, Nigel Raab writes the following about the journey the two men took across Los Angeles: 'As time slipped by, I passed sun-bleached and stuccoed homes with empty front lawns; no one was on the porch ready with a friendly wave as I walked by. The walk was, in fact, an exercise in solitude because few Angelenos take advantage of their extensive sidewalks.' 'An exercise in solitude'. What a wonderful thing. (...) For me, the book brings back all the joy I felt in roaming, rapt in contemplation. 'Seventy-Two and One Half Miles Across Los Angeles' is far more than just a collection of landscape images." (© Kenneth Dickerman, Photo Editor, in: The Washington Post, In Sight, January 18th, 2021)