The Art of photography

RespondingtotheSubject:TheCity

Toobtaintheurbanvignetteinthephoto-

graphatright,GrantMudfordwentout

andexploredonfoot,trustingluck—and

hisintuition

—

tospotapicturethatful-

filledtheassignment."It'sadifficultway

towork,"Mudfordsays."You canwalk

allday andnotgetanything.ButIam

convincedthatmakingphotographsis

somethingthatcanbedonealmostany-

whereifyouputyourmindtoit.That's

partofwhatthisphotographisallabout:

Ifyouconcentrateonsomethinglong

enough,photographically,youcanprob-

ablymakea
good

picture

out

ofitwithout

relyingonexoticsubjectmatter."

Toapplythatoptimisticphilosophyto

thecity,Mudfordfoundhimselfexamin-

ingastretchofSunsetBoulevardinLos

Angelesthathadfrequentlycaughthis

eyeashetraveledtoandfromhishome

nearby.Eventuallyhesettledonajumble

ofarchitecturalfeaturesonthesideof

abrightlytiledfried-chickenstand.To

Mudford,

thepicture

workson

two

levels.

Asanabstractdesign,says Mudford,the

picturedisplays

"a

visualintegritythatis

presentinthescene—butwhich,without

beingisolatedinaphotograph,isoften

notrealized."Also astheliteralrecordof

aplace, thepicturerevealsexactlyhow

LosAngelesfeelsto

him;

alittlegaudy,

shinyandoriginal.

"There'sauniquewaythingsareput

togetherhere,"MudfordsaysofLosAn-

geles."Somepeoplethinkit'sverytacky

—

butIenjoythewaythingsaredone

here:Ilovetilelikethis;it'sconsistent

withthevisualsenseinLosAngeles."