In contrast to the backdrops of boundless water seen in Tom Black's and Doc Ball's photographs, Bob Johnson's 1942 photograph of the Members of the Palos Verdes Surf Club, Hermosa Beach turns away from the ocean to view bathers at the beach.

Johnson reveals the growing commercialization of the beach front. Lurking behind the bathers are the tell-tale signs of twentieth century everyday life. Underneath the powerlines that stretch across the skyline loom a billboard for Coca-Cola and an over-sized cut-out of an ice cream cone.