Allan Sekula (1951–2013), photographer, artist, filmmaker, scholar, teacher and activist, devoted much of his life to the theory and practice of social documentary. This posthumous volume presents a collaborative exploration he initiated to examine downtown Los Angeles as its redevelopment peaked with the construction of Frank Gehry's cultural icon. Designed as an exploration of the impact of Gehry's building, the book challenges civic complacency by engaging a vital counter-tradition of social documentary investigation. Including a previously unpublished essay by Sekula on the challenges of representing the city, an interview with him about the 2005 exhibition
Facing the Music
which he curated for the gallery at REDCAT, and an overview of the building's history and the continuing urban transformations it has catalyzed, this publication is a unique record of social and artistic engagement in a metropolis often thought to inhibit such efforts.