I'm trying to find the name of a photographer who took a series of
black and white photographs of parking lots and drive-in movie
theaters.  These photos were taken from an airplane or helicopter.  I
don't know when.
I know these photos were later reprinted and offered as a
set of 30 or 36 photos.  Today such a set would fetch around 30K.  Who
is this photographer?

Hi there,

The name of the artist is Ed Ruscha.

"Ruscha’s series of photo books, wry landmarks in the history of
conceptual art, began with 1962’s Twentysix Gasoline Stations, and
reached a real estate climax five years later when he published
Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles."
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/printme.php?eid=5232

"Ruscha also became noted for his photographic essays which were made
throughout the 1960's and 1970's. He photographed each series with the
objective eye of a photojournalist though seemingly with the intention
of making art for art's sake only. One of the more famous, "The Sunset
Strip" made in 1966, documents several miles of the Sunset Strip in
Los Angeles just as it was, but of course in the miniature size of a
photograph. "26 Gas Stations" shows 26 gas stations, "34 Parking Lots"
shows 34 parking lots, and the list goes on."
http://www.non-art.com/archives/second/ruscha/ruscha.html

"Quickly classified as a "pop" artist, a term he says always made him
"nervous and ambivalent," Ruscha then turned to the unheard of
activity of producing artist's books, inventing a much-copied genre of
photographic essay that he used to record ordinary buildings (Every
Building On the Sunset Strip), parking lots (Thirty Four Parking Lots
in Los Angeles) and pools (Nine Swimming Pools)."
http://www.wburg.com/0101/arts/ruscha.html


I have found two of his parking lot photos online:

Auto Club of Southern California - Rearview Mirror
http://www.aaa-calif.com/westways/0300/rearview.asp

The LAB
http://www.thelab.org/archive00/view115.htm



Search strategy: "parking lots" "drive-in" "black and white"


Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

Fast, complete and on the money.