American Storyteller
Archival Recordings 36
Welcome to Archival Recordings 36!
This week I'm sharing more of my recent photographs, mostly centered around the West Adams/University Park area near the northern edge of South Los Angeles. It's a part of the city where one of the world's richest universities (The University of Southern California, better known as USC) exists in the middle of a traditionally working class neighborhood. The result is a place where two very different worlds occupy the same space, driving up the cost of living for most of the locals in the area while transforming the landscape to cater to the often affluent student population.
When I walk around this part of the city with my camera, my eyes are always drawn to scenes that communicate the disparity between those affiliated with USC (full disclosure, I work there as well) and the residents that live in the area. While it's true that the university supports many local businesses and several elementary schools in the surrounding area, it is also undeniably the single most destructive force in regard to gentrification.
Signs of its impact are everywhere you look. This is the sort of narrative that urban landscape photography is uniquely suited to documenting. For the past 2 years I've been building up a body of work with this part of the city as my main subject. Over time, a portrait of the neighborhood began to emerge that communicates what it's like on the fringes of University Park.
The visible contrasts that fill this neighborhood are a microcosm of the challenges facing communities throughout the city and the country as a whole. Time and time again, residents lose out to developers and are displaced in the name of progress. As someone who has lived in Los Angeles my entire life, I've experienced how these pressures can erase all traces of an area's history. Documenting the changes in my old Koreatown neighborhood was one of the reasons I became a photographer in the first place.
Up next: More updates on my upcoming "Los Angeles, Real America" zine (available only for paid subscribers) and a look back at some of my work photographing bus stops over the years.
Thank you as always for reading Archival Recordings and supporting this project. Peace!
-Kwasi
