From 2004 through 2009, Benny Chan photographed aerial views of Los Angeles and Orange County freeways during the height of rush hour as a way of exploring the massive gridlock that confronts the city's commuters each day. His unique perspective was achieved by flying in a helicopter and using a camera that he designed and manufactured exclusively for this series. The purpose-built camera and large size of the finished prints allow the artist to represent the enormous scale of the city’s gridlock.
Chan’s primary objective was to call attention to routine traffic on the freeways by visually representing the situation in an easily accessible format. As a result, he did not photograph traffic jams caused by accidents, preferring instead to focus on daily rush hour traffic on the busiest freeways in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
With his almost omniscient perspective, in "Traffic!" Chan explores and sheds light on the conundrum of traffic as a symptom of a society unable to keep pace with its own expansion, while at the same time rendering a dark beauty from the chaotic scene.
After spending five years on "Traffic!" Chan now considers it complete. It is his hope that the work will stimulate dialogue about the traffic problem, which he views as a crisis, and will lead to proposed solutions. Chan feels that the fantasy of the West as an area of wide-open spaces easily traversed by the automobile is no longer viable, but that hopefully, over time, urban planning in Los Angeles will evolve to incorporate more areas that not only facilitate, but encourage, walking.
“Chan’s images, while of particular freeways in the Los Angeles area, are not specific to Los Angeles,” said Marianne Lamonaca, The Wolfsonian’s associate director for curatorial affairs and education.
“The immense scale of traffic congestion portrayed in these images is a very relevant problem in many of our country’s cities, including Miami. With its dense development, Miami is one of the most congested cities in the nation in terms of traffic. Chan is holding a mirror up, asking us to look at our urban environment.”
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