photographs by Gary Leonard

When Frank Gehry makes a new building--that’s history! And when Gary Leonard gets out his cameras, Los Angeles history is in the making! So is it any wonder that Gary Leonard is the only photographer to have documented Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles from the first shovel of dirt that was lifted on groundbreaking day right through to completion? And now, his pictures become the definitive Walt Disney Concert Hall book: Symphony in Steel.

Symphony in Steel is Gary Leonard’s photo study of the building that has added a 21st Century style to the skyline of L.A. His film captures the people of Los Angeles as they stare into its stainless steel skin. He shoots the building from the inside out, from its steel girders to its upholstered seats. He’s got Los Angeles Philharmonic Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and architect Frank Gehry as they contemplate the future and acoustic engineer Yasuhisa Toyota as he creates the perfect labyrinth of sound. Gary Leonard was the only photographer whose lens was on site every step of the way.

Now for all the Angelenos who will want it, for all the tourists who must take it home, all the L.A. historians and architectural devotees who’ll demand it: here’s the only book featuring color images of the building on the covers and Gary Leonard's signature black-and-white images inside. Featuring the words of the people who will live with this architectural symphony in steel--the people of Los Angeles, from Esa-Pekka Salonen and Frank Gehry to John J. Doe. Symphony in Steel--the people’s book. With photos by the people’s photographer, the inimitable Gary Leonard.