Right next to some of the most exclusive real estate in Malibu, California, there is the ocean open to anyone that serves as a "liquid public space" where strangers from different social strata form momentary bonds. Untitled #1-#14 (Surfers) consists of a series of photographs full of misty dreaminess and a sense of expansion. Opie says: "I chose this place because I wanted it to feel as if you were floating out over the edge - into water, into air, into a place where there is suspended time, space, and a moment of unfulfilled, yet hopeful expectation." She is "always close to home" and wondering about her surroundings. Her subjects vary profusely, including houses with imposing facades, strip malls in transitional neighborhoods, Wall Street, ice houses on Lake Michigan, lesbian home life, and her son's friends. Through these photographic works, Opie investigates the physical and social landscape of American communities. (CS)

(Born in Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.A. 1961, and lives in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.)

Untitled #2 (Surfers)

2003
color print, edition 5/5
127 x 101.6 cm
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery
George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, 2004
©Catherine Opie
Courtesy: Regen Projects, Los Angeles