My World: Architectural Aura of the Getty Museum

There's a special beauty of the Architecture of the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Folk hardly ever miss going to the Los Angeles county Museum of Art, The Hammer Museum in Westwood or the Museum of Contemporary Art downtown by Disney Hall and The Colburn School. However, The Getty seems to be not as well noticed. There are two parts of the so richly endowed, (and free to the public), J. Paul Getty Museum, the older one on Pacific coast Highway, noted for art of the classical periods and then the modern Getty museum off Route 405, just North of West LA, going towards the San Fernando Valley. On a good day, deer can be seen foraging in the seemingly wild landscape on the West side of the freeway. There's an auto piloted train that takes visitors at no charge up the steep hillside to the stunning world of Getty modern architecture.

It takes a visit, just dedicated to casual strolling, to experience fully just the external layout and gardens! It would seem obvious that one would promptly just go to the current exhibit of one's choice for the day, but there's such beauty in the architecture, that it has become a place for causal walks and even for families or dating couples to relax on the lawns. Strangely, these places have an aura of privacy and small family groups seem to behave as if they were in their own unseen corner of the universe, it's that special.

I'll try to share with you some of the architecture interiors and exteriors as well as gardens, plants, trees, sculptures and of course the people enjoying each other and the special calm and joy of this unusual and utterly peaceful retreat.

After the reception hall, one can enter the upper courtyard and eat ready made high class chef sandwiches or go straight on in to one of the buildings. I start with a walk around the lush grounds and look at the people, each with their own discovered real estate to relax in. Look beneath this great building and discover and outdoor cafe and then on a lower level, a lawn that families can spend time with each other and leave behind all the city noise and pressures of everyday life. I prefer to use one or two lenses only, and today I chose the 24mm TSE II and the 100 mm Macro II to go with my Canon 5D II. Tripods are not allowed in the museum or grounds, I guess to prevent super-images being taken for professional publications or to limit liability from the risk of accidents!




Before ever getting on the train, the museum knows how many folk are already up on the campus and so can control the flow. This means that the museum is never too crowded for peaceful contemplation! Even when there are a lot visitors, the grounds are so spacious, that one can always find somewhere to relax. It's a most pleasant experience, a great contrast to most other famous museums. I'll be posting more in the morning of the people relaxing outside and then take a short visit inside a photo exhibit, although, our photography is technically forbidden! Still, an image of the security guard seemed a fair way of catching a look at the place......

Asher

The presentation as a vertical tryptic is brilliant. It is such an elegant solution to the problem of converging lines in the tilted perspective!

Jerome Marot said:

The presentation as a vertical tryptic is brilliant. It is such an elegant solution to the problem of converging lines in the tilted perspective!

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Jerome,

Glad you like it. It's almost an ethical thing for me to try to portray the building as we see it with out eyes not super-compressed and projected into a sphere so that we see as if we're some sort of fly with many eyes. Here with three glances, we see what anyone might see if we stood in the same place. Except, I admit that the lateral angle of the 24mm is likely a little wide, but not knowingly so.

Asher

Presenting the Getty architecture from a human standpoint is a large challenge, as there are so many aspects to consider. I'm an observer, participant and admirer, but not any expert on architecture. So my report is a gradual personal coverage, based on where I happened to walk on that day and who I met or photographed from a distance. So far, the images are of one day in october 2012. When I use older images, I'll disclose that. My goal is to cover as many aspects of the amazing place as I believe might interest you. I hope the visits you make will be enjoyable.

Asher

A truly beautiful place. I visited just shortly after it opened. It was the last good day with my Mom.

Winston Mitchell said:

A truly beautiful place. I visited just shortly after it opened. It was the last good day with my Mom.

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Winston,

That sounds very interesting. Did you happen to get any pictures? This might show differences, especially in the gardens.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Winston,

That sounds very interesting. Did you happen to get any pictures? This might show differences, especially in the gardens.

Asher

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I didn't. It was during my long hiatus from photography

The "Mushroom Trees" are actually sculptures of rusty steel bars with with bougainvilleas climbing up inside them. I imagine they have to severely prune them weekly, so that persistent fast-growing bougainvilleas didn't escape out of the open trunks between the iron bars and ruin the clean appearance. Beautiful and stunning but like a super model, demands and gets "high maintenance". The scale of these are just perfect as a setting for the grounds and the architecture towering above and behind them.

Asher

Asher.

For a day, I was confused. Nothing strange in that. Nomads get confused by fancy buildings!
Then I happened to see Jerome's comment. Then it hit me. Brilliant, I thought. Give it to the Californians.

Spacious feeling in there. Light. I have to lift the entrance to my tent to let in the light.
Oh that tree..don't have them in these parts. Nice.

Got to visit it some day. The images are lovely. Wonder if they serve dates in that fancy cafe!

Thanks for sharing.