Stephen Hilger: In the Alley

A subversive portrait of Beverly Hills in a gorgeous leporello format This leporello publication presents Brooklyn-based photographer Stephen Hilgers (born 1975) color photographs of service alleys and the backside of houses separating the public from the private in the affluent suburb of Beverly Hills, Californiaa more anomalous view of the place by depicting the physical and symbolic spaces behind the homes of the areas wealthy residents. Eva Daz has written that Hilgers emphasis suggests that Beverly Hills is actually two cities, a front city of impeccably maintained homes and a back city that covertly services the front illusion. Hilger photographed their graffiti, security signage, crammed garbage cans, unaesthetic car parks and overgrown vegetation; the maintenance staff who work nearby; and the alleys most indelible feature, narrow, high walls that denote a claustrophobic refusal of inspection. In the Alley features 22 panoramic photographs in a leporello-folded format so the reader can leaf through the photographs or expand the book-object for display. An essay by novelist Matthew Specktor maps out the significance of Hilgers alley views in the context of personal histories and Hollywood stories. In a conversation, Hilger and photographer James Welling discuss their respective practices.