How, and by what means, can we capture urban atmospheres and mobility? What can we learn about cities, ourselves, and our societies through these dimensions?

Immaterial Voices host Brian O’Neill becomes the subject of this conversation for the podcast, guest hosted by Tim Hale. They discuss Brian’s book-making work from the past few years and its connections to his training in the social sciences. Brian discusses his first book project, Beach Boulevard (Immaterial Books – 2021) and his forthcoming one - A Desert Transect, drawing connections between the two. While not premeditated as such, the books have become a kind of sequence unto themselves. In both instances, Brian unpacks how different types of mobility, such as walking and train riding, afford distinctive viewpoints on urbanism in the American West. Where Beach Boulevard took on a region nearly over-photographed - Southern California (and more specifically Huntington Beach), in A Desert Transect, Brian discusses how he approached Phoenix, Arizona – a place that is comparatively undertreated by photographers and storytellers. In so doing, he discusses his forays from photography into image-text work, and even field recording and video. Brian also talks about his side projects, such as a self-published book on the Paris metro system, which further illustrates his commitment to visual and textual modes of investigation and experimentation.

Brian and Tim also discuss the issue of whether to work in sequences or series, and what kinds of projects such systems of presentation serve. Throughout the conversation, Brian emphasizes the curiosity necessary to work through the world, and one’s own ideas, often invoking his approach through various literary and social scientific texts and concepts. For example, the idea of a transect – which in biology refers to the systematic study of a landscape along a line to assess species richness – was used as an heuristic inspiration for Brian’s exploratory project on the Phoenix Light Rail, which emerged as much out of personal interest in urbanism amidst climate crisis as from the simple everyday necessity of commuting in the United States’ 4th largest metropolis.

Links:

A Desert Transect: https://www.immaterialbooks.com/store/p/a-desert-transect

Tim Hale: https://www.timhale.net

Beach Boulevard: https://photobookjournal.com/2022/04/15/brian-oneill-beach-boulevard/

Brian O’Neill’s Paris book: https://www.blurb.com/user/brianfoneill

Brian O’Neill on Anima Loci: https://animaloci.org/walking-the-toxic-triangle/

Alex Wilk, designer: https://alexwilk.com

Arturo Soto: https://www.arturo-soto.com/#1

Natura Urbana: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262551335/natura-urbana/

Wyoming Toad: https://wyomingtoad.bandcamp.com