KAREN CONSTINE
(un)real landscapes: Los Angeles plays itself
“It's like paradise with a lobotomy.” — Neil Simon, regarding Los Angeles
Like the rest of the globe, the Coronavirus forced Angelenos to quarantine and shelter in place. (un)real landscapes: Los Angeles plays itself explores what a pandemic society looks like – otherworldly, unreal.
Pre-pandemic, the streets of Los Angeles were decidedly at odds. Increasing homelessness, changing demographics, and rapid gentrification of older neighborhoods were already happening. Parallel with this, Los Angeles is the movie backlot of the world – a pretend land, a place for dreamers. Los Angeles is all of this and more. During long walks in this time of COVID-19, the city revealed a new self and an ever-changing sense of place.
Shot using a color enhanced infrared (IR) (665nm) camera, (un)real landscapes' IR images call to mind Kodak's Aerochrome infrared film. This film was used frequently by governments, the military, and the scientific community for aerial photographic applications, such as vegetation and forestry surveys, hydrology, and earth resources monitoring, where infrared discrimination may yield practical results. In (un)real landscapes, the infrared camera also shows nature is ever-present and thriving in an urban environment despite the pandemic.
