Pictorial

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Striking images are everywhere in Los Angeles: the homeless man on roller blades wheeling a shopping cart, the stunt double aflame on a movie set, the millionaire mayor pouring coffee for patrons at his downtown diner.

A group of photographers have captured these and other images in a new book called “Los Angeles: City of Dreams.”

Published by Towery Publishing Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., the 528-page pictorial spans 10 years and displays various L.A. attractions, gardens, businesses, sports and people.

“We tried to make the book as timeless as possible,” said Towery spokeswoman Gingo Spencer. “A general rule is that, if the photo looks dated, depending on the clothes or the skyline where buildings may not exist (anymore), we won’t use them.”

The book, which includes an essay by Los Angeles Times City Editor Bill Boyarsky, was started in 1997 when consultant Jane Frey began requesting photo submissions. Relying on a network of contacts from her years as onetime art director for Los Angeles magazine, more than 10,000 photos were received over six months. Another six months were spent selecting the shots that would be published, as well as editing and organizing them. The finished product includes shots taken by 70 photographers.

“L.A. is so transitory a store is here one minute and gone the next, like that Bargain Circus, which is now an ugly 99 Cents Store,” said Robert Landau, who has been photographing Los Angeles for the past 20 years. “It’s important that we don’t take for granted certain signs or works of architecture, which is why I’m glad to be part of this publication.”

The book is part of Towery Publishing’s Urban Tapestry Series. To date, 70 titles have been published on New York, St. Louis, Seattle and San Diego, among other cities.

“L.A. is a good topic for us, since you have that high-end lifestyle reader who is interested in community culture,” said Marta Hallett, vice president and publisher of Rizzoli International Publications. “There’s such a fascination with the L.A. environment the culture, the food and architecture which make for wonderful subjects for illustrated books.”

Nola L. Sarkisian

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