TALKING ABOUT L.A., by Désirée van Hoek & Norman M. Klein

Fri, May 16 - Wed, May 21  2025

Los Angeles

In the photo book Talking about L.A., Dutch photographer Désirée van Hoek teams up with legendary L.A. writer Norman M. Klein. Together, they explore L.A.’ s historic downtown, in particular the area around Broadway, the street that divides the city into East and West.

Van Hoek has been working regularly in downtown L.A. since 2007, and has published the books Skid Row (2015) and Notes on Downtown (2022) about the area. For the latter title, she interviewed Klein, author of a standard work on L.A.: The History of Forgetting(1997). It led to a series of inspiring Zoom conversations, and ultimately to the plan to make a book together.

In Talking about L.A., Van Hoek zooms in on the exuberant typography in the historic heart of Los Angeles. Using billboards, colorful neon signs, logos and other texts, she sketches a layered image of the neighborhood, which has undergone numerous transformations over the years.

Norman Klein – historian and professor at CalArts – knows the history of downtown L.A. like no other. In Talking about L.A. he refers to the so-called anti-tours he used to give in downtown. With groups of students and readers, he visited places that did no longer exist. His essay pays tribute to Broadway on the basis of personal memories, books and (noir) films.

The design of Talking about L.A. is by Armand Mevis, who also designed Van Hoek’s previous books.

Book Launch

The book signing at the LA Art Book Fair will be on Friday May 16 taking place at ArtCenter College of Design’s South Campus in Pasadena

The event at Skylight Books will be on Wednesday May 21 at 7pm at 1818 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027