Lewis Baltz - Candlestick Point

This book has been lent to me by one of my fellow students.  Before this, I have to admit that I had never heard of Lewis Baltz and certainly hadn't heard of Candlestick Point (although I was aware that the 49ers played at Candlestick Park).  However, I was well aware of Baltz's style (New Topology) as I am a big fan of the Bechers, who pioneered this style of photography.

Lewis Baltz's book, Candlestick Point, published originally in 1989 takes a look at the State Recreational Park that is Candlestick Point.  It consists of over 170 acres of land and foreshore at the southern most point of San Francisco.

Originally the park was intended, during World War II as a shipyard.  However, the war concluded and the park was left until 1973, the Californian State Legislation purchased the area for $10million.  It was in 1977 that it was voted the area be used as a recreational park.

Originally published in 1989, Baltz takes a disparaging look at this piece of land that has been mistreated and misused by nature and humans alike.  Natural and human detritus can be seen strewn across this vast tract with various objects ranging from simple flotsam and jetsam washed up by the passing tide to huge piles of abandoned bricks and tyres, left by fly tippers, demolition and general abandonment.  It consists of 128 pages of 72 b&w images and 12 colour images, together with a hefty and hard going essay, written by Wolfgang Scheppe.

Throughout the book, the images remain almost unsophisticated and bland, with no real 'focus' and centre point. The images are taken against a typical San Franciscan day, with mist and fog hanging in the air, adding to the sober and dispassionate feeling of the pictures. However, what they do do is show to what degree man can make an area devoid of any soul and feeling.  Through this complete disregard for this area, Candlestick Point had become a drab, barren and uninteresting place, full of the leftovers of man.

As a reprise, it is interesting to see nature attempting to reclaim this area, as seen in Figure 1.

This book raises a valid and still current point.  Man has expanded and contracted cities and left behind derelict space that remains spoilt and dysfunctional.

 

Figure 1