Karen Halverson: Mulholland - (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Photographer Karen Halverson first fell in love with Mulholland Drive after seeing David Hockney's, twenty-foot long painting, "Mulholland Drive: The Road to the Studio" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A few years after that, she moved to Los Angeles and encountered the real Mulholland Drive, a road that twists and turns for fifty-two miles along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains from the Pacific Ocean to Hollywood. She likens the drive, which she has made hundreds of times, to "watching a movie full of jump cuts . . . There you are maneuvering the curves of the road while spectacular images roll by left and right. Mind the turns and the oncoming cars, but catch the views as best you can-native chaparral followed by swaths of hot pink groundcover, arching succulents that look like saxophones, sheared off hillsides, limos cruising along, movie sets and construction sites, houses on stilts, even houses perched on precipices, finally the iconic Hollywood sign, and everywhere, the vast city below." Her panoramic photographs of this legendary road, named after William Mulholland, the controversial "water baron" who was essential to Los Angeles's growth, show the breathtaking natural landscape that is now inextricably entwined with the built environment. Mulholland presents a unique portrait of this quintessential American city, in a dramatic horizontal format that emphasizes the wild terrain that lies beneath the glamorous City of Angels"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A breathtaking panoramic portrayal of the iconic California roadway, in a horizontal format that enhances the drama of the landscape

American photographer Karen Halverson (born 1949) first fell in love with Mulholland Drive while on the very opposite coast from the iconic California roadway--during a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There, Halverson encountered David Hockney's 20-foot painting Mullholland Drive: The Road to the Studio. A few years later, she moved to Los Angeles and found herself frequently driving along the 52-mile street that Hockney depicted as a colorful path to a fantastical world. Soon Halverson developed her own dynamic relationship with Mulholland Drive, likening the route along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains to "watching a movie full of jump cuts" with its ever-changing scenery.

Halverson's panoramic photographs capture the allure of the street that stretches from the Pacific Ocean to Hollywood, a unique juncture between the area's natural landscape and the manmade infrastructure that has come to define Los Angeles. The images speak to the grandness of the environment and its Hollywood legacy, presented horizontally so as to emphasize their sweeping breadth. With a soft, sun-dried quality that is quintessentially Californian, Halverson's photographs capture the magic that pulses through the City of Angels.

Review Quotes

In Mulholland, photographer Karen Halverson captures the historic highway in slow, dense detail. Her lush, panoramic shots allow viewers to immerse themselves in this complex route where the landscape and the metropolis collide.--Lauren Moya Ford "Hyperallergic"