Take a walk with self-taught photographer Rafael Cardenas as he traverses northeast, east, and downtown L.A. Through new and rarely-exhibited photographs, Cardenas explores the intimate relationship between land and people, demonstrating how the two come together to create place. Landscapes and Land Dwellers offers personal entry into the layers of history within L.A.’s landscapes, as well as the communities who live with and contribute to these legacies today. Cardenas subtly reminds audiences of the city’s contentious history of property politics—from the restrictive housing covenants of the early twentieth century to recent gentrification—and examines how today’s land dwellers actively shape, negotiate, and deflect these legacies.

Photo: Rafael Cardenas, El Peso de Ajetreo (The Weight of the Hustle), 2018.

Landscapes and Land Dwellers with music by Hayokaht
The video is a series of timelapse shot around the entire eastside. This video was shot on a DSLR timelapse. There are over 50,000 images that make up the video.