http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk
LA ARCHITECTURE
Ashok Sinha is an
architectural and ne
art photographer, based
in New York City. His
work has been published
by The New York Times,
Architectural Digest,
Interior Design, and
exhibited on numerous
occasions.involved researching the
locations in between my trips
to LA using Google Streetview to
remotely scout vantage points,’
explains Sinha. ‘I only wanted to
make pictures starting at dusk when
the lights come on and add a sense
of drama and glamour to the
buildings,’ Sinha reveals. He
continues, “After all, neon has
always played a huge role in the
design and advertising elements of
these buildings.’
Sinha shot exclusively with Canon
equipment and specialist tilt-shift
perspective correction lenses. Using
techniques from his practice as a
commercial architectural
photographer he altered his field of
view with shift lenses for maximum
effect. In some cases, many
exposures were made to make the
final image ensuring that detail was
captured in both shadows and
highlights. A tripod was naturally
vital with the exception of several
shots that were made in daylight
from inside a car.
‘Unlike my commercial shoots,’
explains Sinha, ‘none of these
images were staged, so it took a
number of tries and a lot of patience,
along with prayers to the photo gods
to hope for a car in the right place at
the right time, or for an open view
to a building from a specific vantage
point, not to mention other factors
such as the weather. Perhaps the
biggest technical challenge was to
find the best vantage point. Often
that would be the middle of a
six-lane highway.’ In contrast to his
commercial assignments, Sinha was
working alone so kept his kit to a
minimum – just one or two lenses.
While Sinha’s images celebrate the
notion of a bygone era of motoring,
perhaps as we look to the future of
electric motoring these magnificent
structures may see something of a
renaissance. ‘It is an ideal time to
revisit the lingering “dream city”
magic of these roadside icons and
their fresh implications,” says Sinha.
‘The advent of the charging station
will fundamentally reshape and
decentralise the concept of a “filling”
station for the car, and I can imagine
that many of these sites can be
retro-fitted to welcome this new era
of motoring. Given the small
footprint of the charging stations
and the fact that it currently takes
about 35 minutes to top up a battery
charge, these locations have theClockwise from
top: CHIPS;
McDonald’s;
Fleetwood Center;
Saga Motor Hotel;
Wigwam Motel