BIOGRAPHY

Although Gil spent 32 years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, eight years as the elected District Attorney, much of his life has been spent as an urban photographer. His first photo book, IRON: ERECTING THE WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, (November 2002, Balcony Press), received much critical praise in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other publications. The photographs emphasize the contribution of the ironworkers to the building of America, but they also document the beauty of the curved, angled, and bent raw steel of this building before being covered by its exterior skin.

Photographs from his second book, FROZEN MUSIC, (November 2003, Balcony Press), have been featured in multi page features in the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, American Photo, Newsweek, Time, Harvard Design Magazine, California Lawyer and other magazines. Gil's second book is his interpretation of the abstract art created by the finished building. The book is a portfolio of 45 panorama lithographs.

DANCE IN CUBA, (October 2005, Balcony Press), was Gil's third book. At the 2006 Ben Franklin Awards, judges said the book " . . . is an exquisite, extraordinary volume." With this book of black and white photos, Gil shows the extraordinary spirit of the Cuban people through their dance. Photos from the book were recently exhibited at the United Nations in New York City.

THE CLOSER, (June 2006, Balcony Press), is a photo book illustrating what it takes to put a successful television series on the air. Gil is the show's Consulting Producer.

His current photo book project, WATER IS KEY, (October 2007, Balcony Press) is about safe water, health, and the empowerment of women in West Africa. Through his photographs and interviews of villagers in Niger, Mali, Ghana, and Burkina Faso, Gil hopes to focus world attention on the issue of safe water.

Gil has had solo exhibitions at the National Building Museum, Washington D.C., United Nations, New York City, Millennium Art Museum, Beijing China, UCLA Fowler Museum, Virginia Center for Architecture, New York Public Library for Performing Arts, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Barnsdall Art Park Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles County Music Center, University of Southern California School of Architecture, Peter Fetterman, G. Ray Hawkins, B and A, VIVA , Lawrence, Duncanmiller Galleries, UCLA, and other institutions.

In 2003, American Photo named Gil one of the country's four master photographers. TIME magazine profiled Gil in a two-page article about his change from "high profile D.A. to stylish photographer." Photographs that " . . . are at once haunting and joyful." (October 2005). On May 28, 2006, the television program, 'CBS Sunday Morning', featured a segment about Gil as a photographer. Gil is also a featured speaker at conferences and conventions speaking on his art and on career change.

Photo: Mikel Healey