SOMEHOW WE WANDERED INTO THE FUTURE

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Dates

2016 - Ongoing
Author

Avital Oehler
Topics Fine Art, Documentary
Location California, United States

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Welcome to the Los Angeles River, a place I have been compelled to document, for reasons yet unknown.

Just below street level lies the Los Angeles River, where the spoils of the metropolis spill into and around the river’s arterial path; where wildlife flourishes and perishes; where the city’s trash mingles with the river, trash that is either picked up by volunteers annually or reused by transients daily; where literature is as important as other addictions; where people hang out for the day or stay for the long nights in makeshift dwellings erected in precarious storm drains; where the city of dreams turns into an austere landscape, yet somehow maintains a haunting beauty.

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Contrary to popular belief, the River is not man-made. In fact, it used to be life source for the local indigenous peoples of the Tongva-Gabrielino tribe.

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Some have converted storm drains into makeshift home.

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The River is in a state of flux, between the burgeoning homeless population, groups such as Friends of the Los Angeles River and Tribal councils, who want to open it to the public for recreation, and the Army Corp of Engineers, who want to preserve its plant and wildlife, and maintain public safety.

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Documenting the river has given rise to the uncomfortable feeling that it is somehow showing us a future that we would rather not see.