La Brea Avenue and Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, June 21, 1975

In the 2011 essay 'Form and Pressure', Stephen Shore recalls that he was drawn to the scene depicted in La Brea Avenue and Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, June 21, 1975 because, ‘it seemed to be such a quintessential Los Angeles experience: the gas stations, the jumble, the signage, the space.’ He explains that he was interested in, ‘seeing how many of these interstices I could juggle on a single image.’ In the spirit of New Topographic photography, Shore defies past standards of sublime natural panorama in the framing of this iconic image, choosing instead to focus on the municipal hardware of the streets. The hazy mountains are lost in the background – flat and illusory like the backdrop of a Hollywood set.