Aaron Stern: Ghost Rider

Using rental cars as mobile studios, Stern portrays the extremes of life in Los Angeles

Ghost Rider is a 15-year survey of photographer Aaron Stern's pictures of Los Angeles. Starting in 2006, Stern used rental cars as mobile studios, shooting for sometimes 10 hours a day for weeks at a time, taking thousands of photographs and Polaroids. Stern explores how the landscape we choose for ourselves defines us--what does a life look like that is frayed at the edges? Through the open window of his car, he witnessed peril and empathy, as well as stories of reinvention, the pursuit of fame and wealth and those living on the fringes of society. Stern captures the voyeuristic tension between what is meant to be seen and what is not, while questioning the standard iconography of LA, from immaculately kept muscle cars in the driveways of working-class neighborhoods like North Hollywood to the towering palm trees.