Photos by Paula Lauren Gibson/AfroPix
Fixnation had it’s World Spay Day benefit at the drkrm gallery on Spring Steet. Currently on display there through March 17, 2012 is Ansel Adams: Los Angeles, photographs from the Los Angeles Public Library Ansel Adams collection.
For those of you who might not know, female animals are spayed and male animals neutered. Generally performed as a means of animal birth and over population control. Fixnation’s goal is “to reduce the population of homeless cats by sterilizing as many as possible while demonstrating the effectiveness of Trap-Neuter-Return and colony management for the humane care of homeless cats.” Fixnation offers “free spay/neuter services for homeless, stray and feral cats, provide reduced rate services for tame cats and serve as a one-stop-shop for TNR.” Personally, I have used them for fixing of my own stray and feral cats and fully believe in their program. So imagine my delight when I found out that I could help feral cats and feed my photography addiction in one stop!
Back in the 1940s, Ansel Adams shot around Los Angeles – from Santa Monica to Burbank and points in between – on assignment for Fortune Magazine. Photographs of common people like manufacturing plant workers, trailer park home dwellers, fancy apartment buildings, along with folks on Ocean Park Pier. On this assignment Adams shot over 200 photographs. Some of those photos appeared in the March 1941 issue of Fortune. Several decades later, when Adams realized that he still had the bulk of the non published photographs and negatives, he offered to donate them to the Los Angeles Public Library asking that they be valued at $100.00 for tax deduction purposes. The 1962 transmittal letter also indicated that “If they have not value whatsoever [to the library], please dispose of them in the incinerator.” Apparently, they had value and so we are able to see them today. (That transmittal letter is also on display at drkrm.) Eventually, the LAPL valued them at $150.00!
The exhibits gives us a different take on ansel Adams, one that is different from the usual landscapes that he is so well known for.
These guys fixed my feral cat for free! They are the best.