Anthony Hernandez

(Hardback)

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Description

Since the early 1970s, when he hit the streets of Los Angeles with a 35mm camera and the basic technical knowledge he had acquired in darkroom classes at East Los Angeles College, photographer Anthony Hernandez has consistently challenged himself by adopting new formats and subject matter. Moving from black-and-white to colour, from 35mm to large-format cameras and from the human figure to landscapes to abstracted detail, Hernandez has produced a varied body of work united by its arresting formal beauty and subtle engagement with social issues. At first largely unaware of the formal traditions of the medium, Hernandez developed a style of street photography uniquely attuned to the desolate beauty and sprawling expanses of L.A. Published to accompany the photographer's first retrospective, Anthony Hernandez offers a comprehensive introduction to Hernandez's career of more than forty years, including many photographs that have never before been exhibited or published. The catalogue fully represents the range and breadth of Hernandez's work, with an extensive plate section sequenced in collaboration with the photographer.

Reviews

Whether you think of California as a promised land or a dead end, it's always been a reliable source of inspiration for photographers, and some of my favorite new books explore the terrain from unexpected angles. The most substantial of these is Anthony Hernandez.--Vince Aletti "Photograph Magazine"

Author Bio

The child of Mexican immigrants, Anthony Hernandez (born 1947) grew up in a Los Angeles far removed from the idealized Hollywood image of the city. Hernandez's world - the world his photographs capture - was punctuated by bus stops, spare parts lots and miles of urban wasteland. Recently, Hernandez has explored a more abstract style and turned his lens on other landscapes, including Oakland in the Bay Area. His current work is once again focused on Los Angeles, and reflects his deep engagement with the city that has been his most enduring subject.