The electrification of Los Angeles: a photographic history

The title of this piece gives little hint as the wealth of images held in the archive of the Edison Electrical Company. Los Angeles’ chief electrical supplier, Edison, commissioned photographers to document the electrification of the city. The result is an extraordinary archive of 70,000-plus images – some of them reproduced here – that form an evocative social portrait. This is an exceptional example of how industry used photography as a means of documenting their work but also showing the grand sweep of social history. It is a huge shame that industry, business, governments no longer consider the photographic image as important.

South Pasadena recreation centerPhotograph: Doug White/The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

 

People living in an “all electric home”, 1955Photograph: Joseph Fadler/The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Wilco Gas & Sieberling Tire Store, 1954Photograph: Joseph Fadler/The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Pokey’s restaurant, Beverly Drive at Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, 1955Photograph: Joseph Fadler/The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Pokey’s restaurant, Beverly Drive at Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, 1955Photograph: Joseph Fadler/The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

See more of this collection here

Thanks to The Guardian and  Alex Macpherson for alerting us to this