WHEN: June 1st 2016 through June 30th 2016
WHERE: South Pasadena Library and Pasadena Libarary
The exhibition is currently on display in Burbank, CA at the Burbank Library until August 16, 2016 and the Commerce Library in Commerce, CA until July 30, 2016
What it's all about:
Southern California remains immersed in a predominantly car-based culture; however, as the MTA continues to expand services throughout the southland, many Angelenos are embracing a car-free lifestyle. Living without a car is ideal for anybody who wants to avoid the stresses associated with day-to-day rush hour commutes on the dreaded Southern California freeways. The car-free paradigm allows commuters to eliminate the anxiety of being trapped in traffic and replace it with a much more expansive experience.
The current MTA infrastructure allows commuters to travel efficiently from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley. "There are definitely more benefits than disadvantages to taking public transportation in Southern California,” says photographer Edward Emiliano Solis. These positives are reflected in riders’ finances and overall qualities of life, which are elaborated by everything the city has to offer, including its history, geography, and diverse cultures and lore. “Going car-free is a very good way to save money—no fuel, no car insurance and no maintenance on a vehicle,” Solis continues. “No endless wild goose chases looking and paying for parking. It’s just on and off, off and on. We mitigate our daily stresses by walking more, seeing more, and connecting with our surroundings.” The constant movement of trains and buses mobilizes a sense of freedom in their riders, freedom to relax, catch up on work, or simply observe Los Angeles in a way we cannot when distracted by the task of negotiating a vehicle.
Solis is a 41-year-old Angeleno, born in East Los Angeles and raised in Whittier CA. He is a 21-year music industry veteran who views public transportation as a chauffeured form of transport; Solis equates car-free with carefree. Years of business experience and cultural literacy impelled Solis to identify the positive qualities public transportation offers. “For example,” he says, “imagine a life inspired by a car-free lifestyle, with unlimited travel in Southern California daily for less than $5.00 a day by using the EZ Pass.” For the past ten years, Solis has single-handedly raised awareness of and promoted the car-free lifestyle across many communities and cultural environments. He sees himself as a global advocate for a car-free and eco-friendly lifestyle.
Solis’s experiences as a Los Angeles resident fuel his two-man hardcore duo It's Casual, and his well-known podcast Los Angeles Nista. Media are not Solis’s sole means of affecting social change to benefit the environment, “The way I live is my strongest, most effective form of activism,” Solis claims, “I want to inspire as many people as possible to adopt this lifestyle, not just for the good of the environment, but as a way for us to regain the sense of community that was lost when Los Angeles County became fragmented by our freeway infrastructure. We need to overcome the isolation our dependence on the automobile has promoted.” Solis’s environmental and social messages coalesce in his current endeavor, an installation of his photography.
Solis’s photography show, "Through The Eyes Of A Bus Rider,” is comprised of 1000’s of black and white and color photographs that document his travels on the MTA infrastructure. The selected works were curated from thousands taken throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties over the past decade. Solis is well aware that many Southern California residents are not familiar with what a car-free lifestyle entails, so his photography show is curated line-by-line to create geographical cohesion by displaying the photos precisely to to the real life location of the gallery’s location.
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Email for info: throughtheeyesofabusrider@gmail.com
