Do You See What I See?

As you may know, I had the joy last weekend of talking with photographer Janna Ireland about her new book, Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer’s View. Angel City Press and Hennessey + Ingalls held this virtual chat; you can see the recording here.

Beyond being a ton of fun, our talk reminded me of how differently we all see the world around us. And how just a slight shift in perspective can offer new insight.

For instance, here’s a photo from Janna’s book of one of my favorite places, Founder’s Church of Religious Science (Paul R. Williams, 1960):

This view from the side of the choir loft offers “a peek at what people don’t usually see,” said Janna. It’s intriguing. It makes me want to know more. What’s going on back there?

The photo captures part of “The Wisdom of the Ages,” a massive mural that’s actually quite vivid. It was created with paint that glows under ultraviolet light, giving it the appearance of a stained-glass window.

Here’s another photo of the mural by Sandi Hemmerlein from her wonderful photo essay on the church:

Also intriguing. What’s going on in there? What do all those symbols mean? Painted by congregant Wallace Rolland Stark, the mural depicts the progress of humankind through symbols of world religions, arts, and sciences. (For a key, see the last page of the building’s National Register nomination.)

Here’s another photo by Trudi Sandmeier, Director of USC’s Graduate Programs in Heritage Conservation:

It’s from a 2019 Docomomo SoCal discussion of architects of color. What do you see here? I see some happy graduate students ready to change the world (specifically, l-r, Stacy Williams, Rafael Fontes, and Lindsay Mulcahy).

Each photo tells a completely different story, of course, and each of us perceives these images in our own way.

An obvious observation, I know. But one that reminds me of the need to understand—at the very least, consider—how others perceive the work we do to save historic places.

Which leads me to preservation’s image problem, which I’ll start to tackle in my next post.

In Other News

In the new episode of Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation, recent grad Rafael Fontes talks about the complexities in conserving Los Angeles’s LGBTQ heritage. Why are sites relatively hard to find, research, and designate? Why is L.A.’s key role in LGBTQ history often overlooked? I love doing this podcast with the Dream Team of Trudi Sandmeier, Willa Seidenberg, and grad students at USC.

Want my blog posts by email every other week? Join my email list at the bottom of this page or here.