Capturing Santa Monica: Emerson Gaze

Emerson Gaze (c1905-1966) captured illuminated storefronts, noteworthy events, celebrities, athletes, and children.

Lick Pier, at the end of Marine Street, pre-dated Pacific Ocean Park Pier. The Aragon Ballroom is pictured behind the sign.

Gaze lived in Santa Monica and spent his career documenting the city.

In the 1930s, he founded Pacific Press Photography, a bureau of photojournalists who produced images for Los Angeles-area newspapers.

Actor Leo Carillo on horseback.

Governor Earl Warren and his daughter with their grunion catch on the Santa Monica beach.

Gaze's images of Santa Monica during World War II are sedate and strikingly capture daily life in an era of uncertainty.

Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American movie star, signs up for the voluntary Civil Defense during WWII.

In early 1942, Japanese Americans and those of Japanese ancestry were required to register as enemy aliens. Gaze captured this moment in a government office.

The Army tests a smoke defense at the intersection of Cloverfield Boulevard and Pearl Street.

Trucks carrying aluminum leave Santa Monica City Hall as part of the wartime scrap metal drive.

Santa Monica High School students selling victory bonds to fellow students.

Gaze’s sense of humor comes through in many of his images. His self-portraits poke fun at the chaotic life of an exhausted news photographer racing from one assignment to the next.

Young people celebrate the end of WWII on the Santa Monica beach.

A group of Santa Monica lifeguards in 1953.

Crowds at the Santa Monica Beach.

In 1948, Gaze captured picketers protesting wage inequality in front of Sears.

Fellow photojournalist Bill Beebe acted as steward of Gaze and Pacific Press Photography’s vast image archives for years before donating them to the Santa Monica History Museum as part of the museum’s invaluable Bill Beebe Collection.