Electric clothes Drying Campaign, 1956. People living in An All Electric Home, 1955. Photos by Joseph Fadler.
These shots were taken by photographers employed by Southern California Edison, LA’s main electrical power suppler during the 20th century, to promote its work in electrifying the city.
The photographers were given a fairly bald brief, to document both domestic and commercial electricity use, as well as local electrical production. However, we think these archival shots, as presented by profs Deverell and Hise, look more like some unworldly collaboration between Ed Ruscha, Raymond Chandler and Bernd and Hilla Becher, than your usual corporate promotional brochure.
Modernist LA brought to life in online exhibition, here