Design

Why This Man Is Photographing Every American Apparel Billboard in L.A.

A fascinating project on advertising and public space.
Thomas Alleman

When Thomas Alleman moved to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 1988, he found his new home "apocalyptic." "For the first five years, I thought I might die," Alleman says. "Every single day."

But the photographer learned to embrace L.A.'s unromantic landscapes. He seeks out the city's wrinkles; shooting once ambitious buildings that have become weathered with time. These scenes keep Alleman "alive and sane in this fucked-up phantasmagoria of a place."