Interesting Photo of the Day: LA’s Railway of Robbery

Interesting Photos

Los Angeles is known as La La Land for a reason: it’s a place many dream of going to become big. However, there are an equal number of people who’d rather avoid the city altogether, believing it’s too busy, noisy and congested. Escape the traffic and you’ll find a beautiful landscape to capture in photos—yet with so many people living there, the landscape has suffered. The following image taken by photographer Paolo Fortades shows one way that’s demonstrably true:

“Sunset Over a Stolen Wasteland in LA” by Paolo Fortades (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)

While the debris in the forground is a beautiful part of this photograph, it also makes you ask questions. Apparently, the city has been seeing a wave of rail heists in January 2022, as thieves have been making off with random packages from Amazon, FedEx and UPS. The crimes are hard to prosecute and often the monetary value isn’t worth the police’s effort, so the crimes are going unpunished and running rampant.

From an aesthetic perspective, it’s wonderful how the photographer has captured the beauty of the city against the desperation of the robberies. The juxtaposition is eye-catching.

There’s strong competition in the foreground between the rail tracks and the messy environment. While the tracks work as a leading line to draw us toward the glowing sky, the junk stops you and draws your eye back down.

This photograph may not be something you’d want to hang in your living room, but as a work of documentary photojournalism, it’s definitely one that makes you think.