LA based Love Child and Blok Design/Furlined are excited to announce the release of ARCHAEOLOGIES: LA, a stunning book of black and white urban photographs by acclaimed Italian photographer Renato D’Agostin with text by urban historian Norman Klein. The 79-page book takes readers on a visual journey of Los Angeles.

ARCHAEOLOGIES: LA is the first of three still photography volumes capturing the evolving identities of influential megalopolises Los Angeles, Istanbul and Mexico City.
“By exploring the intersection between our idealized images of these cities and their hidden, underlying personas, the still photography in the ARCHAEOLOGIES series offers viewers a deeper understanding of the evolution of city life,” says Diane McArter, Founder of Lovechild and Furlined.

So, why LA first? “Los Angeles would seem to be an un-obvious choice to launch our initiative. So much has been written about it. It’s the seat of culture. It’s iconic. And yet, it’s precisely because it holds such a strong image in our collective memory that makes it so fascinating,” said Marta Cutler of Blok Design. “It begs the question: What makes LA true to itself? What is its underlying hidden persona? And how does it intersect with our own preconceived ideas formed by countless movies and celebrity culture? This was the starting point of our exploration.”

Celebrated urban critic, historian and author Klein examines D’Agostin’s use of light, and charts the emotional architecture of LA and its evolution into “New Byzantium” – a crossroad between worlds.

Renato D’Agostin presented his original photography book Metropolis at the Leica Gallery in New York at the young age of 24. Other exhibitions of his photography followed in The United States, Europe and Asia. His prints have been published in numerous books and chosen for inclusion in public collections such as The Library of Congress and The Phillips Collection in Washington DC, as well as the Center for Creative Photography in Arizona and the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris among others.

Dislocating subjects from their realities, D’Agostin depicts his perception of the space around him, the relationship between the architecture and people, opening a new portal in the spectator’s imagination.

Angelenos can purchase the book at Arcana in Culver City and online at Kanimambo.