Explore Trenching, Lakewood, California

Read About This Photograph by William A. Garnett

I was hired commercially to illustrate the growth of that housing project. I didn’t approve of what they were doing. Seventeen thousand houses with five floor plans, and they all looked alike, and there was not a tree in sight when they got through.William A. Garnett

Lakewood, located on the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, was the location for the second major postwar housing development built in the United States. About 17,500 tract houses were constructed assembly-line style on 3,500 acres of cleared farmland. Mass production made the houses affordable, so a greater number of people could take part in the American dream of home ownership. The growth of suburbs after the war was due to the population boom and new mass-production methods in construction.

The developers hired William A. Garnett to document different phases of the subdivision’s construction from his Cessna airplane. He piloted the plane while photographing out the window. He often photographed his subjects early in the day, so the angled light would emphasize their otherwise flat-looking forms. The photographs serve a utilitarian purpose but also demonstrate Garnett’s impeccable sense of design.

In Trenching Lakewood, California, stacked lumber appears for the foundations, utility poles are installed, and the main roads are carved out.

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• What details do you notice in this photograph?
• What shapes do you see? Squares, triangles, organic shapes, or...?
• What kinds of lines do you see? Short, long, parallel, curvy, diagonal, etc.?
• Which lines and shapes are repeated and form patterns?
• Do the shapes and lines remind you of anything, such as roads, yards, etc.?
• How do you imagine the neighborhood will eventually look?

A mostly residential community or area outside or adjacent to a city or town.

The process of digging long, narrow rows for different purposes such as for utilities, drains, construction preparation, etc.