TIM BRADLEY – CALIFORNIA DWELLING
2012-10-22This exhibition encapsulates Bradley’s photography from 1978- 1981 titled California Dwelling.
“From 1978 to 1981, I photographed in a neighborhood that had an uncanny visual presence. The layering of ancient bungalows, postwar apartments, outdated cars, and contemporary suburban life made the place look like no one knew what decade it was. Sunlight burnished surfaces with a pastel vibrance and night brought out illuminated doorbells and impossible shadows, projecting a feeling of theatricality.
The view from the sidewalk could be disarming. It seemed as though time was holding its breath to accommodate the incidental arrangements of a suburban tableau. Looking at the groundglass I often felt that I was engulfed in a virtual space rather than aiming at a subject, as if I had stumbled onto a stage set or into someone else’s memory.
For four years I looked and photographed. My interest was aesthetic at first, inspired by the color photography emerging during the 70s and the unexpected beauty of my surroundings. But I soon realized that I was also documenting a fragile corner of southern California that would soon be overwritten. I made prints from about one hundred negatives and put everything into storage for thirty years.”
Tim Bradley
Opposite – Untitled (Tailfin and Hill), 1980
Exhibition runs from December 1st to January 12th, 2013
Craig Krull Gallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Building B-3
Santa Monica
California
90404
