Mary Ellen Carroll's Los Angeles Federal Building and Library Series at Third Streaming Gallery

Mary Ellen Carroll's showcase at the Third Streaming gallery in New York City took place from March 23 to May 19, 2012. It presented two photographic collections focused on Los Angeles architecture. One series featured 24 Cibachrome prints from her 2003 film Federal, which highlighted repetitive images of the Los Angeles Federal Building, underlining themes of government authority and surveillance. The bureaucratic hurdles she faced for filming permissions were also part of the exhibit. The second collection, titled Kruder and Dorfmeister (1999-2000), consisted of small black-and-white photos of public libraries. The exhibition included a screening of Federal on March 24-25, 2012, as Carroll, an outsider, examined the contrast between the city’s bright facade and its institutional truths.