“Aerial photography exposes
the scattered tracks and traces of humanity on the planet’s
surface, their extent, their shapes, and their layers - in a sense,
everything that defines human settlement as an aspect of the earth’s
surface. It also demonstrates that the landscape is always both
the incidental product and the physical expression of the meeting
between mankind and nature.”
-From the essay “Aerial Geography,” by Jean-Marc
Besse, from the newly published Designs on the Land, by Alex MacLean
The California Coastal Records Project Exhibit at CLUI Los Angeles
One of 11,823 images of the coast on display
at the CLUI, as part of the California Coastal Records Project.
Shown here is El Segundo, with the Mattel World Headquarters (upper
left) and the Chevron Refinery (middle), with a sliver of Manhattan
Beach’s residential area (on the right) . Ken Adelman, photo
The California Coastal Records Project is a photographic
portrait of the coast of California, composed of nearly 12,000
aerial images taken in the past year and a half by Ken and Gabrielle
Adelman, a husband and wife team from Northern California. The
Project was featured in an exhibition at the Center’s Los
Angeles Exhibit Hall this Spring, as part of the Center’s
Focus on the West Coast. Though originally designed as a web site,
the Adelman’s project was shown as a digital projection
at the CLUI, with each image displayed for three seconds, similar
to the rate at which they were taken. At this rate, the entire
portrait of the California Coast, from the border of Oregon to
the border of Mexico, takes 9 hours, 51 minutes and fifteen seconds
to complete. The Adelmans assisted with the presentation of their
material at the CLUI by providing all the images, scaled to the
right resolution for the projection.
The low altitude, high resolution, oblique images
were recorded digitally during more than a dozen flights in 2002
and 2003 by Ken Adelman, from a helicopter flown by Gabrielle.
The helicopter maintained an altitude of around 500 feet, allowing
a few hundred yards of coastline to be visible in each image.
Each image overlaps a bit with the adjacent images, so that shown
together as a sequential projection at the CLUI, objects travel
from right to left, as the view moves down the coast, creating
a mesmerizing display of information-packed images, from a perspective
unavailable to the land-based traveller.
Ken and Gabrielle Adelman, creators of the
California Coastal Records Project.
The project was conceived to be a baseline of
data, available to anybody. While presented at the CLUI as a continuous
image, it may be read as resembling the work of photographers
and conceptualists like Robbert Flick, or Ed Ruscha, and have
some of the qualities of German typological photography. But it
was conceived by the Adelmans to help advance the preservation
of the coast. “Our goal is to create a aerial photographic
survey of the California Coast and update it on a periodic basis,”
says Ken Adelman, who was inspired to create the project while
involved in the (successful) effort against the massive Hearst
Corporation’s proposed coastal development near San Simeon.
The web site, online since October, 2002, has already had an
impact on development by providing evidence of unauthorized building
projects and seawall construction. Architects and developers have
been complaining about the project, while code enforcement agencies
and the Coastal Commission have praised it. Some consider having
their home visible on the internet as a violation of their privacy,
and the “rants” listed on the project web site are
exemplary. Barbra Streisand has recently filed a $10 million suit
against the Adelmans, who maintain that they can’t help
it if people’s houses happen to be on the coast that they
are documenting. “We have little sympathy for those who
would feel that in order to enjoy the beauty of the coast that
they must deny others access to it,” says Ken. A hearing
on the case is scheduled for August 28th.
The only part of the coast not represented in the exhibit, or
on their website, is the 35 miles along Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Permission to fly through this active and sensitive military zone
has not yet been granted by the Air Force. But the Adelmans will
keep trying, and will be updating the existing images with future
flights. They are also currently working on a similar project
for Oregon.
The California Coastal Records Project was presented at the
CLUI as part of the Center’s Independent Interpreters series
of presentations. The exhibit ran continuously at the Center,
visible during normal public hours of noon to five PM, Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays. Special showings of the complete portrait
were scheduled by appointment, during which refreshments were
made available. Additional information on the project and access
to the Adelman’s website, www.californiacoastline.org,
was also available in the exhibit space.
