People come to California, expecting a perpetual sunbathed beach front that glide right up to the Golden Gate bridge — a beautiful, exotic locale. However, there’s a big expanse between LA and SF, which is filled with some of the best agricultural and natural land in the world. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some incredible sights along the coast. However, there’s also one city, the equivalent of the flyover states for California, a town called Fresno. Nicknamed by many “the armpit of California”, the city is largely the resulting urban blight from decades of migrant farmers and capitalists decending on the ripe Central Valley. It’s been given the short end of the stick, however the names and the reputation are there for a reason. If you’ve ever driven through Fresno, you know that Fresno is weird, and oddly depressing, probably because of the largely immigrant population and the magnet for American low culture that has made it one of the biggest Meth cities in the world. Now, CA-born photographer Tony Stamolis has released a new book “Frezno” which examines life in California’s sixth largest city with vivid, stark and honest imagery. He captures his hometown, once a beacon of booming surburbia, with a harsh, unsettling light. However, beneath the surface there is a new kind of DIY culture brewing, something uniquely its own… and perhaps something even more interesting seen through his lens. No doubt there will be more and more wondrous bands, artists and the like coming outta Fresno.

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