"The old man stands alone, embraced by the gentle light of sunrise. He shuffles painfully on the hard concrete, gripping his cane with a fading strength. As if to accentuate his infirmity, a new bus, the word 'DASH' freshly painted on its bright metal, roars rapidly past him. ...

This is but one morning in Los Angeles, a place attuned only to the most spectacular extremes. ... Billboards intrude, mansions stare through electrified fences, and superstars seek the spotlight; a place where the more delicate beauty of common life succumbs to their whirlwind.

"... Diani made these photographs, at the close of the second millennium. We cannot predict the future, but it seems sure that the pace of the world will spiral breathlessly upward, .... So the photographers of Los Angeles' third millennium might find that pictures like these--pure, unscripted fragments of sorrow, tension, exuberance, and tenderness--lie permanently beyond their reach. ..., these images will preserve a tapestry of life that reminds us of the human face of the 'unseen' Los Angeles...."