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Op-Ed: Photo essay: L.A.’s architecture of insecurity

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Photographs by Camilo José Vergara

Concertina wire, bars and high windowless walls -- the architecture of insecurity marks many of the Los Angeles neighborhoods that Camilo José Vergara has been documenting for nearly 20 years. He has found dozens of examples of grim concrete "lock box" buildings that turn their backs so firmly on the outside world they don’t even post a sign. Other fortresses are lettered or painted pink to soften a scrim of bars or blank windows, but protection more than welcome remains the message. These are fortifications first, and warehouses, offices, shops, churches and homes second.

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

5721 Compton Ave., 2006

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

8222 S. San Pedro St., 2000

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

6516 S. Broadway, 2013

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

1901 Imperial St., 2011

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

2703 W. 8th St., 1997

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

737 S. Lake St., 2014

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

E. 69th St. at Avalon Blvd., 2013

(Camilo José Vergara / For The Times)

9607-9609 S. Vermont Ave., 2011

Camilo José Vergara was awarded a National Humanitites Medal in 2013. His exhibition "Time Tracking: Documenting America's Post-Industrial Cities" is on view in Germany, at the Braunschweig Museum of Photography, until Dec. 28.

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