Jeff Burton - DREAMLAND - 1999

An expert and precisely selective journey through the sunshine noir of greater Los Angeles, Jeff Burton's first American publication documents a well-worn but little-known trail from the Hollywood sign to the San Fernando Valley: that of the porn industry in which he works. Burton's images, veritable picnics of fragmented flesh, feature figures assembled in oblique repose, lounging around poolsides, or drifting through the rococo Valley vernacular of rooms for hire. In amongst the fountains and foliage of L.A. are the pussies, pets, and hairless cushions of human flesh that stud Burton's suburban sets. Photographed in voluptuous and lingering detail, Burton's bizarre but serene compositions proffer an exquisitely refracted take on action in Dreamland. A book to be savored for repeated viewing pleasure.