Autumn Distraction #1: The Getty

Summer is finally starting to feel like it's over. It's often hard to tell when summer is finished here in Southern California: We don't have the lovely Fall foliage of the north, and the temperature seems to hit ungodly heights even after Labor Day. However, the temperature has begun to drop, and I'm starting to think about packing up my shorts and breaking out the sweaters.

Even with Autumn weather just around the corner, I still find myself being pulled from my work. So instead of the fun summer distractions I shared over the past months, you can look forward to some Fall ones!

First up: I visited The Getty Museum this Saturday for the first time in about five years. Museums are some of my favorite places. I love the quiet, the dim lighting, and the thrill of discovering a "new" artist or art form. This visit introduced me to photographer Irving Penn, who is famous for his work in Vogue magazine.

The Getty exhibition, Irving Penn: Small Trades, focuses on Penn's work during the early 1950s, documenting the uniforms and work tools of skilled tradespeople in London, Paris, and New York. His photographs are visually stunning, but even more special as they capture a moment in time that is nearly lost. Many of the trades depicted in Penn's photos no longer exist in this modern age (milkman, street sweeper, rag and bone man), and many that have endured are slowly dying.

A Parisian Busboy. (Photo from The Getty website.)

I encourage anyone who can make the trip to Los Angeles to check out this exhibit. It is a very beautiful, interesting, and funny show (I would really like to know how Penn found a deep sea diver in NYC...). The exhibit runs until January 10, 2010, and I may even try for a second visit myself!