Ed Ruscha - Photographer

Ed Ruscha seems to admit that his photographs are of the vernacular, within this paragraph he also says that he wasn't really looking for any meaning behind them, which to me seems like the epitome of the sense of the vernacular.

Twenty Six Gasoline Stations definitely confirmed the vernacular as an art style, what's interesting to note is that these books (published in 1962) can be found in both the art section and the travel section of the library. This photograph in particular is called "Knox Less, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1962", there's nothing particularly noteworthy about the image, it has a broad depth of field and is technically good. What's interesting is the ordinary nature of the photograph, there is no atmosphere to it which intrigues me greatly.

"Mock up #4 (North Side of Hollywood Blvd), 1971" (from the series "A Few Palm Trees") it's nice to see images of how photographers work, and this image is more aesthetically pleasing to me than the one above. Leading lines of the row of palm trees, the curb and the lane separation lines gently take the viewer in and out of the photograph. I'm not sure why there is white around the tree in the foreground, it looks out of place, is this what he wants? It's an interesting idea to make something that was there anyway look out of place.

Both of these images are from the series "The Sunset Strip" the top image is "Filthy McNasty's" (1976/1995) and the bottom is "Gazzarri's Supper Club" (1966/1995). These images are similar to Twenty Six Gasoline Stations yet could have an interesting back story, I suppose the gas stations could but on the face of it they are fundamentally boring; these places could have a lot of history to share.