SoCal Connected

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"These houses were built in 1928. Never been a flood here."

Production Notes

Billboards: Blight or Art?

We at SoCal Connected have practically made a cottage industry out of covering the seemingly out-of-control spread of billboards and digital signs in our city.

Inherent to much of our coverage has been the idea that billboards are an eyesore, a distraction and a blight on our urban landscape. But ask some people and they will point to billboards as artful time capsules perfectly expressing a moment in time and in our culture. Photographer Gary Leonard looked at some Kodachrome slides offered by an acquaintance and saw all these things in these images. So he is curating an exhbit of photographs depicting billboards from the '50s and '60s. Here's a little preview:



The Billboard Show

Opening June 13

Take My Picture gallery
860 S. Broadway (@ 9th)
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213-622-2256

RELATED STORIES:

Billboard Confidential - By Correspondent Vince Gonzales - Los Angeles is the billboard capital of the nation and some are saying it is an environmental disaster - a disaster that doesn’t seem to be getting the attention of city leaders.



Billboard Confidential - Part 2 - By Correspondent Vince Gonzales - In part two of our series, we take a look at the issue of digital billboards. We question why leaders approved approved the installation of 877 digital billboards and why it's good for Los Angeles.



Billboard Confidential - Part 3 - By Correspondent Vince Gonazles - A third installment on the investigation of the booming billboard business in Los Angeles.




Billboard Confidential - Part 4 - Correspondent Vince Gonzales - Next month the city of Los Angeles is expected to pass a new sign ordinance, but wait until you hear about Mayor Villaraigosa's plan to clean up the signs of LA. That clean up may be too late for some residents, who say they are being chased out of town by supergraphics.


View image Edited by: Matthew Williams; Videographer: Alex Shey

Comments


a nostalgic trip down memory lane..

Left me wanting to see more!Lots more.

This piece takes us on a journey (360 degrees) from what we saw in Karen Foshay's exguisite Billboard investigation. This is a very nice highlight to the historical context of billboards.

I enjoyed this very much.

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