We delve into the pages of the latest in the Portrait of a City Series as it provides a visual exploration of The City of Angels.
La-La Land, The City of Angels, L.A. Los Angeles has long been a source of fascination in our everyday lives. Home to tens upon thousands of actors, musicians, directors, models and pornstars, it has risen from a desolate wasteland to become a glittering, gritty hotbed of fame, fortune, drugs and despair, all of which is documented in Jim Heimann’s latest pictoral history book for Taschen: Los Angeles, Portrait of a City.
From the first ever photograph taken of the city in the 1880s, to sprawling scenic images of the original Hollywood(land) sign; from candid snapshots of memorable faces such as Marilyn Monroe musing over a book to a fresh faced Jackson 5 performing on a Santa Monica beach, the volume showcases the enigmatic city in all its multifaceted glory. Photographs from the likes of Garry Winogrand and Ellen von Unwerth are accompanied by essays from renowned California historian Kevin Starr and L.A. literature expert David L. Ulin.
"A fascinating journey through the city’s cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history"
The Portrait of a City series includes beautiful visual expeditions through London, Berlin, Paris and New York, with the Los Angeles book being the latest instalment in the collection. Beginning with a detailed introduction of the city's birth and growth, the pages guide you through the years leading up to the present day, noting iconic events on route such as the assassination of President Kennedy, two Olympic games and the Rodney King riots, the book provides a ‘fascinating journey through the city’s cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history’. Here, we present some of the best images from the book alongside our top 10 LA facts.
1. Los Angeles has numerous unusual laws that are still in use such as animals being banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school or place of worship, it is illegal to cry on the witness stand, toads may not be licked and zoot suits are prohibited.
2. Los Angeles and San Francisco become 2.5 inches closer every year, because they are on opposite sides of the infamous San Andreas Fault.
3. The average citizen of Los Angeles eats 28 pounds of fried chicken, 50 pounds of French fries, 22 gallons of ice cream, 12 pounds of tortilla chips and drinks 325 bottles of beer every year.
4. The Shirley Temple, a non-alcoholic cocktail, was invented in Los Angeles.
5. The city flower is the bird of paradise and the city tree is the coral tree.
6. Los Angeles has the largest number of women-owned businesses in the nation.
7. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula," which, translated from Spanish, means "The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the river of Porziuncola."
8. The Disneyland monorail, built in the 1950s, was the first working monorail in the Western hemisphere.
9. Helmut Newton was in Los Angeles with June, his wife of 55 years, when he lost control of his car when leaving the Chateau Marmont hotel. The Newtons had spent winters in Los Angeles for the last quarter-century, living at the hotel. They lived the rest of the year in Monte Carlo.
10. There are sixty-five people in Los Angeles who have the legal name Jesus Christ.
Los Angeles, Portrait of a City is now available from Taschen.
Text by Rhiannon Wastell
