lens culture
Call of the SirensAir Raid Sirens of Los Angeles County
GI

Call of the SirensAir Raid Sirens of Los Angeles County

Photos
24
Status
Public
Created
May 27, 2013
Updated
Feb 09, 2022
Categories
Fine Art Fine Art

Photos (24)

Cover
Call of the Sirens: Air Raid Sirens of Los Angeles County. A story in words and pictures © Garret Izumi
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The sirens of mythic times beckoned ancient sailors to their own death.
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So beautiful was the siren’s voice, no one could resist it’s beguiling seduction.
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Men crashed their ships and themselves upon the jagged outcropping of rocks that was the siren’s home.
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Sirens are no longer the tales of poets but of Cold War historians.
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Early warning air raid sirens exist today forged from the hysteria of an apocalyptic doom.
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From World War II through the Cold War, 200 sirens were erected in the greater Los Angeles area.
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From urban sectors to suburban blocks to rural acreage...
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...from Sun Valley to San Pedro...from Santa Monica to East LA
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They blend into the landscape unnoticed and unobtrusive.
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The sirens were decommissioned in the early 1980’s
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Dormant for over twenty years, they stand silently sculpturesque
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Today, they are more form than function
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They no longer speak of imminent danger.
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I remember the sirens going off in elementary school, every last Friday of the month at precisely 10:00 AM.
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Our teacher would say "OK class, drop!"
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Under the desks we dove covering our heads, practicing our doomsday posture.
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It would be startling to hear an air raid siren going off today.
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The sirens were originally constructed for our sense of security.
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Now they speak to our sense of mortality.
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For all we know, the sirens may be resting their voices, waiting for that special moment...
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...summing up the strength to produce one long last alluring wail that we cannot help but follow...
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...to the ends of the earth.
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THE END
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