The magazine of the photo-essay
July 2018 back issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
by Jeffrey Milstein
LA NY: Aerial Photographs of Los Angeles and New York (Thames & Hudson,
November 7, 2017) is a dazzling visual tale of two cities, Los Angeles and New York,
photographed from the air, shooting straight down to emphasize the particular
patterns of place and how the urban grid adapts to local topography – and, indeed,
how the topography is itself adapted to human purposes. These two most distinct
and distinguished cities are revealed in astonishing detail, as photographer Jeffrey
Milstein explores residential and commercial neighborhoods, parks and recreation
sites, as well as industrial districts and the infrastructure of transportation. Iconic
buildings and landmarks appear, but also the compelling geometries of suburban
housing developments, apartment complexes, commercial hubs, entertainment and
financial centers, as well as airports and shipping terminals.
Using the highest-resolution cameras available mounted to a stabilizing gyro,
Milstein leans out of helicopters and does steep circles in small airplanes over Los
Angeles where he grew up and over New York where he now lives, looking for
shapes and patterns of culture from above, continually awed by the difference
between the aerial view and the view on the ground. He emphasizes the abstraction of pattern and reveals aspects of
urban design and planning of both cities at the same time as he offers an intensification of detail and an abundance of
information. However high up the vantage point, he composes his images so that the viewer is still vividly aware of the
human scale. In an intriguing proposition of compare and contrast from a bird’s eye point of view that combines
architecture, science, and art, Jeffrey Milstein brings a fascinating new vision of aerial photographs with this stunning
dual portrait of Los Angeles and New York.
Beverly Hills. LA.
Times Square. LA.
Century City. LA.
Empire State Building. NY.
Washington Square Park. NY.
Disneyland. LA.
Statue of Liberty. NY.
Manhattan Beach Pier. LA.
Century and Harbor Freeway Interchange. LA.
Los Angeles International Airport. LA.
