“Alex Fradkin's photographs are at times surreal and at times gritty. In his lens, a truck tire buried in sand looks like a magical talisman, and a dead bird, picked so clean that only its spine is left, becomes more art than animal. His portraits bring us face to face with navy soldiers, surf punk guitarists, Taiwanese tourists and farmers, while Philip Fradkin's narrative weaves in and out, breaking down the coast into manageable chunks.”
“The text is fascinating, unpredictable and affecting. Alex Fradkin’s photographs also defy expectations, rendering familiar places and situations from novel and challenging perspectives.”
“This handsome book includes dozens of color plates of California’s famous beaches. . . . [The] photographs are technically superb, lyrical, and often haunting.”
“Fradkin has added to his terrific body of work on western environmental topics, this time working with his photographer son to explore diverse cultural and ecological coastal settings within California.”
“If you are interested in coastal matters, this book may be of interest.”
“It is, at once, a memoir, a work of investigative journalism, and a portfolio of fine art, all of which is sharply focused on the California shoreline. . . . At some moments, and in many ways, the Fradkins’ beautiful book reminds me of a great and enduring masterpiece, “California and the West,” which combines the photographs of Edward Weston and the prose of his young wife, Charis Wilson. Indeed, the two books belong on the same shelf as the alpha and omega of the ongoing effort of writers and artists to capture the California experience. And I can bestow no greater praise than that.”
“The small Project Space cannot do justice to the scale of this subject but it provides a good introduction. Hopefully this body of work will go on tour to major venues on the coast.”
"Careful and caring perception in writing and photographs."
“It’s not often that stunning photographs and powerful writing come together with equal force but that is exactly what happens with The Left Coast. The team of Fradkin and Fradkin has created a book that shares their distinct visions of the California coast. Their collaboration forms a compelling journey equally strong in words and images.” -Mark Klett School of Art Arizona State University
“Early last century writer-photographer J. Smeaton Chase and literary landscapist Mary Austin made pilgrimages along the pristine shores of California. A father-son team now makes the same journey with notebook and camera to document what a century of development has wrought. The result is a fascinating and unique portrayal of the California coast.”- Kevin Starr University of Southern California
“These photos are beautiful surprising and thoughtful. By visualizing the coast as a whole this book helps us think bioregionally and such large-scale thinking will hopefully contribute to the coast’s preservation.” -Robert Dawson co-author of The Great Central Valley: California’s Heartland
