Typography San Diego 1986 - 1987

Abstract

When Stephen Clarke arrived on America’s West Coast in the mid-1980s having just completed his art degree, he had expected to feel a familiarity with its landscape. Growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s he had absorbed a version of California by watching popular American detective shows. Onto this childhood picture he later mapped the work of the photo-artists based there who informed his art practice —Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Lewis Baltz. For a year he took photographs of San Diego, struggling to navigate through an arid and sprawling landscape which he discovered was alien territory. [a version of this abstract was written by Julia Garcia Hernandez and first published in the RPS Contemporary Photography, No. 63, Spring 2016]

Typography San Diego 1986 - 1987 was published by Café Royal Books in an edition of 250. It was edited by Craig Atkinson, founder of Café Royal Books. Typography San Diego 1986 - 1987 is one of Clarke’s four CRB publications dedicated to the subject of San Diego, California, USA. These photographs form part of a larger project—including books, articles, and exhibitions—titled Alien Resident based on Clarke’s legal status while in the USA as a resident alien.