Sunset at the Sharpshooter by Jerry Burchfield
Captured as a part of The Legacy Project documenting the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine, Sunset at the Sharpshooter is a glimpse into an Orange County landmark rich with history. Once Irvine Ranch, an expansive natural space that dominated the county’s agriculture during the first half of the 20th century, the land was ultimately transformed into the El Toro base in May 1942 with the United States' entry in World War II. The air station served as a training base and point of debarkation for military personnel being deployed. Over the next decades, tens of thousands of service members trained on this site and were exposed to hazardous chemicals during their service. The most toxic of these chemicals was the industrial solvent trichloroethylene, used as a de-greaser for planes and decks. Many of the veterans (and sometimes their children) continue to suffer long term health consequences, and some have struggled to have their conditions recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Read more about why the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was nicknamed "Toxic El Toro" here.
The El Toro military base was listed as a Superfund site (a designation reserved for extremely contaminated places) by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1990 and decommissioned in 1999. Following the closure of El Toro, the question of its future use was up for debate, with proposals including transforming the space into a commercial airport. Such proposals were subject to much controversy amongst residents. It was around this time in 2002 that Burchfield and his project partner, Mark Chamberlain, began documenting photos of the military base in an effort to capture it before it was transformed. In photographing the history of the base and the Marines who dedicated their service to it, the project helped prevent the city from converting the base into an airport, allowing residents in Orange County to vote that it be made into a central park, later named "The Great Park." Read the full timeline of events here.
The vibrant colors of the sky captured by Burchfield contrast with the reality of contaminated land and poor health. When depicting the Air Station, Burchfield sought to capture the raw truth of how the base was left and the effects of the toxic chemicals over time. Burchfield states that the artists he worked with on this project “felt that an important part of Orange County’s history was being overlooked due to the issues surrounding what it should be used for.”
Jerry Burchfield and The Legacy Group is also well known for creating what they called "the largest photograph in history," by using an aircraft hanger as a camera.
Additional Resources:
City of Irvine's "History of the Great Park"Information about the Great Park's Walkable Timeline, which is currently under refurbishment for the City of Irvine's 50th Anniversary
