Where angels tread: a walk through LA’s oldest park – in pictures
By photographing Angels Point, a cliff’s edge in Elysian Park, Adam Ianniello reveals the sublime hidden wilderness of one of America’s largest cities
Main image: Swing when you’re winning … The Giving Tree: Girl on Swing, 2018. Photograph: Adam IannielloWed 21 Sep 2022 07.00 BST
Lone Man Walking, 2019
The park’s environment afforded Ianniello the anonymity to wander with a tripod without feeling out of place. Constructing the photographs at this slow pace allowed the narrative of the book to be guided by nature rather than by the park’s passing visitors. Ianniello says: ‘The path of the Frogtown trail, which snakes around the cliffs of Angels Point, is only wide enough for one person at a time. After setting up my camera, I spent hours waiting for someone to enter the frame at the right spot.’ Angels Point is available to buy through GOST books. All photographs by Adam Ianniello Share on Facebook Share on TwitterAngels Point Palms, 2020
‘On 1 January 2020 I decided to celebrate the New Year by documenting the year’s first sunset. Little did I know how special the clouds in the sky would form along the palm-lined entrance of Angels Point, and how the long exposure would render them transcendent. This photograph became an omen for the pandemic, with the abrupt closure of the park just a few months later and the eventual end to this body of work’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterCrow Call, 2019
‘Angels Point is home to many species of birds, but to me, the crows are the guardians and watchers of this mysterious park. I came across this injured crow while walking on a trail. It was calling out to a group of crows on a tree above’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterFrogtown Trail, Facing North, 2018
‘The road leading to Angels Point is lined with palm trees and parked cars. On the asphalt, broken glass, used condoms and a deflated birthday balloon shimmer in the sun. Footprints snake out into the dry brush. All paths frequented, all paths alone. Old sycamores keep watch from above, etched with names of past lovers and lost phone numbers. Below is a vast sea of highways and houses. Above, glass towers peek through the cloud of smog. Angels Point stands at the edge of the new and the forgotten. A place to hide, to explore, with no commitments, no judgments’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterGirl on Swing, 2018
‘Secret swings are a common attraction in the remote parks of Los Angeles, yet this one was cut down by the Parks Department during the pandemic to stop people from congregating. Like Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree this old tree gave as much as it could to please its children, yet adults had the last say in the matter. This was one of the first successful photographs I made in the park and it served as a guide stone for this entire body of work’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterCarved Cliff, 2019
‘Names of past lovers and park goers are carved into the cliff’s edge like hieroglyphics. I was originally using this rock to steady my tripod for a wider shot before I realised what was hiding under my nose. It’s sometimes the case that the photograph that you’re supposed to make is the one that you didn’t intend to, a game of surprise’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterOak Tree, Afternoon Light, 2018
‘More than 150,000 trees were planted here between 1886 and 1892 after LA mayor Henry Hazard declared this a park. Before that, it had been almost completely clear cut for firewood and homes. This sprawling oak tree, which filters the afternoon sunlight through its fingers, is tattooed by various generations of park goers’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterPete Shire Sculpture, 2020
‘I spent an afternoon standing near this Pete Shire sculpture, which was commissioned in the early 1990s to honour Grace E Simons, the founder of the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park. A few skateboarders made the space their own, then the birds appeared to complete the scene’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterWig in Grass, 2019
‘A discarded wig lies in the dried grass through dappled afternoon light. One can only wonder why it ended up here, and what provocative ways it was used. It reminds me of early surrealist art, such as Meret Oppenheim’s Fur Lined Teacup’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterTree Hideout, 2019
‘I spotted this group of young Angelenos perched on one of the oldest trees in Angels Point at dusk. They were both happy and perplexed by my view camera. To me, this is one of the most successful images in the project, a balance of the youth and the ancient’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterDrift Tracks, 2019
‘On weekends, the park attracts car enthusiasts, lowrider events and street takeovers. The tracks left by drifting rubber tires here among the high brush evoked an abstract painting’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterSuitcase & Palm Leaves, 2017
‘In dreams, suitcases are said to symbolise an upcoming journey and the need to let go of a difficult past. I came across this old one while exploring the many hidden layers of the park. I hope the owner found what they were seeking’ Share on Facebook Share on TwitterPartners among the Pines, 2019
Elysian Park was founded in 1886. Previous uses of the land included a Jewish cemetery, a rock quarry and the Chavez Ravine, a rural Mexican-American neighbourhood demolished and buried under Dodger Stadium which sits below Angels Point Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
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