Los Angeles 1989 Tokyo 1991 brings together a collection of photographs from two of the world's most complex and elusive metropolises, whose social and urban fabric is continuously reshaped by the countless everyday movements of millions of people. In contrast to the visual excess of today's digital image culture, Lombardelli's approach strives for the utmost objectivity and formal rigor. As a result, the reality encountered step by step in the streets intensifies, rather than diminishes, the sense of unease that permeates both the vast emptiness of the Californian metropolis and the overwhelming density of the Japanese capital.

If the first journey appears to be guided by the spirit of Wim Wenders, particularly the closing sequence of The State of Things (1982), the second is accompanied by the memory of Yasujirō Ozu and the quiet, everyday poetry of his cinema. The book restages a sequence of gazes cast upon the world nearly thirty years ago, affirming that it is time, rather than technology, that ultimately grants images their visibility.