Tim Bradley

Tim Bradley earned his BFA and MFA degrees in photography from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. After Art Center, he pursued dual interests as a photographer and teacher, exhibiting his work through the Jan Turner gallery in Los Angeles and joining the Visual Arts faculty at Cal State, Northridge. In 1991, Bradley was appointed chair of photography at Art Center. He served as chair until 2000, when he left to open a freelance studio where he completed projects for The Advocate, Esquire, Fortune, Oprah and other editorial clients. He is currently teaching in the new MFA program in photography at Brooks Institute and he also chairs the visual arts department at an independent high school outside of Los Angeles. He continues to photograph and is represented by the Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica.

Untitled (Chevy Closeup)

Untitled (1960 Chevy)

Untitled (Apartment Interior)

California Dwelling

From 1978 to 1981, I photographed in a neighborhood that had an uncanny visual presence. The layering of ancient bungalows, postwar apartments, outdated cars, and contemporary suburban life made the place look like no one knew what decade it was.

The view from the sidewalk could be disarming. It seemed that time was holding its breath to accommodate random arrangements in a fleeting tableau. Looking at the groundglass I often felt that I was engulfed in a virtual space rather than aiming at a subject, as if I had stumbled onto a stage set or into someone else’s memory.

For four years I looked and photographed. My interest was aesthetic at first, inspired by the color photography emerging during the 70s and the unexpected beauty of my surroundings. But I soon realized that I was also documenting a fragile corner of southern California that would soon be
overwritten. I made prints from about one hundred negatives and put everything into storage for thirty years. In 2010, I began the slow process of having the negatives drum scanned, restored, and archivally printed, bringing the long erased streetscapes back to life.

Untitled (400 Apartment at Night)