GOST Books published North North South, anew book by Ayda Gragossian.
“In Los Angeles, what do you see when you are not moving at 60 mph?”
Los Angeles is a constantly shifting, fragmented city with a landscape that is both navigated and determined by the car. To create the photographs in her forthcoming book—North North South— the Iranian American artist Ayda Gragossian wandered through different areas of the city. She documented the spaces, objects, and textures that are often overlooked when life is in constant motion.
Over a period of four years, Gragossian amassed a collection of images of store windows, parking lots, and suburban houses that function as motifs. Her black and white photographs are devoid of people, an aesthetic choice that emphasises the city’s contradictory characteristics. The visual narrative in North North South departs from that of the glamorous Los Angeles popularised by the entertainment industry. Instead, Gragossian’s photographs capture a deeply personal view of a working-class city where different realities coexist in close proximity.
“In a place teeming with dreams and expectations, a single sign or building can disrupt the pattern of conformity, reminding us that the true essence of any city is best appreciated when we slow down and truly observe our surroundings.”
North North South takes its title from a photograph of a broken freeway sign that features in the book. The title collates the main ideas behind the series, such as the quintessential American condition of traversing freeways that perpetuate inequality and the power of photography to transform the banality of everyday life into the poetic.
Ayda Gragossian is an Iranian American visual artist based in Los Angeles. She holds a BA in Photography and Painting from California State University Northridge and an MFA from the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford. Her work, which addresses notions of displacement, impermanence and longing, has been featured in platforms such as Fotofilmic, Nowhere Diary, All Cities are Beautiful, and Another Place.
Ayda Gragossian : North North South
GOST Books
Hardback
195x250mm
104 pages, 52 images
ISBN 978-1-915423-81-8
RRP £45 | €55 | $60
https://gostbooks.com/en-us
