Street Corners
An Architectural Portrait of Los Angeles
A photographic monograph by Shawn Michienzi.
In his now famous “iceberg theory,” Ernest Hemingway suggested the storyteller could leave out details that wouldn’t strengthen the story, allowing these omissions to help create a more evocative experience by leaving room for the audience’s imagination.
The images here seem to originate from a similar place, with their focus on but a small part of a larger story, purposefully omitting everything but the beginning. The result feels more like portraiture than architectural photography, with images that resonate because of what they leave out. It’s not about who built these facades, or out of what, but rather, their collective sense of personality, a impression of individualism that goes away when presented in the context of an entire city block.
The eye is drawn to the center, where lines pull the viewer’s attention right out of the frame and into the mind’s eye. What does this corner mean to the rest of the building, the block, the neighborhood, or its inhabitants? Everyone will see the answers through the lens of their personal experience. What Shawn has done here is give the viewer a place for that story to begin.
—Russ Lamoureux, writer/director
“I was drawn to these corners as a way to see past the architectural significance of a building, revealing the block’s inherent personality. Each corner suggests its own individualism, an impression that goes away when presented in the context of an entire city block.”
Shawn Michienzi, Photographer
Recognition of Excellence
International Photography Awards (IPA)
Jury Top 5, Honorable Mention, 2nd Prize (Architecture)
Purchase Street Corners
$60.00 - Signed and numbered edition
Street Corners
An Architectural Portrait of Los Angeles
A photographic monograph by Shawn Michienzi.
Printed in an edition of 300 books
Signed and numbered in the edition
Perfect bound soft cover
9.5 x 12 inches
212 pages
128 color plates
ISBN 979-8-218-40138-2
The photographs in this series were made in Los Angeles, California
Shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max
Published in the United States by Shawn Michienzi
