Featured in the exhibition, Vinyl: the Sound and Culture of Records at the Oakland Museum of California.

Through photographs and audio recorded conversations, Raphael Villet spent four months documenting the many different relationships that people have to records in the Bay Area. He brings these observations and conversations to the current exhibition "Vinyl: the sound and culture of records" at the Oakland Museum of California. Featured in OMCA exhibit are thirty five photographs and a fifty five minute audio documentary by Raphael Villet.

OCMA Exhibition, "Vinyl: the sound and culture of records" on view till July 27, 2014.

Read more about the exhibition here.

About the Project

Conducted in January through April of 2014, these recordings bring you into the homes and hangouts of a diverse cross section of Bay Area residents. Starting with his friends, Raphael Villet sought out big and small time record collectors, event dj's, radio dj's, bands, and record label owners. The goal was to bring insight into what records mean to so many different people here in the Bay Area.

Peer into the lives of people like Brontez Purnell (top image) a resident of Oakland, CA who, while amassing an eclectic collection of music for djing and personal inspiration, has also recorded his own music onto vinyl. Or Peter Avilla, from Richmond, CA who has a 45 rpm record player in his 1955 Cadillac, and a fully loaded jukebox in his kitchen. Hear Alec Palao of El Cerrito, CA talk about discovering the complete original recordings of the once prolific Music City record label of Berkeley, CA and the efforts it took to re-release the collection and bring royalties to all those long gone artists.

Zine

Raphael Villet has also produced a 48 page zine of the project, titled "Bay Area Record Collectors." It includes photographs and a download code for the full audio component of this project. Printed at the Berkeley Art Museum at "The Possible" exhibition. Risograph printed on Newsprint. Available on the artists website here.

Raphael Villet, raised in San Francisco, now lives and makes art out of his studio in Oakland, CA. Working primarily with photography he has produced several solo and group exhibitions in the Bay Area. He has published artwork through HamburgerEyes of San Francisco as well as self publishing his own books and zines. He also makes video art and paintings and oscillates between making work that documents the lives of others and his own.