The current Larry Sultan retrospective at LACMA is an extensive and moving look at the prolific photographer’s career, and his singular influence on image-making in Southern California. From porn stars to his parents, Sultan’s portraits capture the postmodern malaise of the paradisiacal Southland, all saturated with a golden sunset glow.

Sultan’s career as a photographer began in the 1970s, and he first received wide acclaim for his series Evidence, completed with Mike Mandel, which involved photographs found and published from government and corporate archives. Sultan and Mandel were also early pioneers of billboard art, designed to slow down road traffic.

Sultan’s two most famous series, Pictures from Home and The Valley, receive ample room in the LACMA exhibition. Pictures from Home is an endearing portrait of Sultan’s aging parents in their San Fernando Valley home. The Valley profiles porn stars on set in various San Fernando Valley homes–begging the viewer to ask: who lives here? Could they be my nextdoor neighbors? Banal middle class interiors and porn stars are an arresting and critically juxtaposed pair.

Larry Sultan: Here and Home is on view at LACMA until July 19.