RECORDING EVOLUTION OF REGION; PHOTOGRAPHER TRACKS CONEJO VALLEY'S HISTORY.

Byline: P. Catherine Shanks Community Columnist

Starting in the early '50s, Ed Lawrence began wandering the hills and valleys of what is now Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park photographing landscapes, movie sets, and cowboys.

The future historic significance of his work never entered his mind - he did it because he enjoyed hiking and taking pictures.

``The first thing I take is my big pack with two or three cameras - even today,'' said the photographer. ``You never know what you might see.''

A sampling of Lawrence's work, a 90-minute slide presentation called ``Ranches to Residences'' will be presented Sunday at the Civic Arts Plaza Forum Theatre.

More than 100 images tell the story of everyday life, changing times, a growing population, and the introduction of business and industry into the area bounded by Westlake Village and Newbury Park.

One focus of the slide show will be the overlapping of eras as captured by Lawrence on film.

``The most striking impression in the beginning will be the photographs of next to nothing,'' said Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza visual-arts coordinator Deidre Long.

Long described one photograph of a cowboy in the middle of an underdeveloped area which is now Avenida de los Arboles.

``All the cowboys wanted him to take pictures of them,'' said Long of the photographer. The scenes viewed through his lens included those of local residents going about their daily activities. Once the ranchers saw their printed images, they requested more photos. Before he realized it, Lawrence had become the unofficial resident photographer in the Conejo Valley.

Lawrence recalled one particular spring roundup which he documented on film. The rancher contacted Lawrence and offered him an exclusive opportunity to shoot the sheep-herding procedure.

``Just after sunrise, they drove the sheep right through the heart of town - where the Oaks Mall is today,'' said Lawrence. He said that the other photographers would have shot the event, had they known about it.

That's only one of the fortuitous events that shaped the career of Ed Lawrence. His very first photograph of Albertson Ranch and a local woman, Donna Fargo, opened another very special door.

``The Albertson Ranch owners liked the photo so much they gave me free rein to go where ever I wanted to go on the property,'' said Lawrence.

Fargo presented the black-and-white image of the ranch and a sky full of puffy clouds to the owners of the land where countless movies and television series were filmed. While Kirk Douglas, George Segal, Faye Dunaway and other Hollywood stars ambled about the ranch, Lawrence documented the goings-on with his camera.

``As many as five movie companies at a time were on the ranch,'' said Lawrence.

The photographer said that people who lived in the vicinity all their lives had no idea what was going on within a few miles of them because the studios kept the filming so quiet.

``Ranches to Residences'' is free to the public and will start at 2 p.m. Sunday Reservations are required, as space is limited in the 400-seat-theatre. For more information, call [phone].

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Photo

PHOTO Photographer Ed Lawrence captured herders moving sheep in Thousand Oaks in 1965.

Photo courtesy of Ed Lawrence