Citysnaps

Hamburger Eyes

Last night I went to two most excellent SF photography events.

It all started at Exposure Gallery where Hamburger Eyes Photo Magazine publisher and photographer Ray Potes, street/documentary photographer Ted Pushinsky, and SF Chronicle photojournalist Mike Kepka talked about their work. All three have photos exhibited at the gallery through August 29th.

After the talk, people moved over to nearby 111 Minna Gallery where Hamburger Eyes Photo Magazine was celebrating the release of Issue 013. San Francisco-based Hamburger Eyes has been producing an in-your-face super-gritty high-energy B&W street photography mag for a long time; starting small with a xerox-produced zine circulated among friends eight years ago. For the last five years their mag has been professionally offset-printed and perfect-bound with the latest issue having 150 pages with photos from 50 different photographers and a print run of 3,000 copies. It’s the absolute finest photo journal of street photography I’ve seen and have been buying it since it came out. Check it out and buy a copy.

And if you’re in the area, check out their exhibition at 111 Minna Gallery - there’s at least a hundred images up on the walls in two huge rooms.

Also, earlier at the Exposure Gallery, I snagged a photo of photographer-friend Quyen hamming it up with SF’s own Charlie Chaplin (Robert Martin). 

He’s one of Mike Kepka’s subjects and was at the gallery. Charlie has been greeting people at Lori’s Diner on Powell St. for 14 years. Click here to check out Mike Kepka’s story and amazing photo of Charlie.

An eye on you…

From 2009 SF Pride.

TUTROJENICAL

Yesterday while walking along Market I bumped into Frank Chu. It’s always great spending a few minutes with Frank. He mentioned that he was recently interviewed by KGO Channel 7 news about life in other galaxies - and that the exchange would be aired soon. 

Oh no…

Another from 2009 SF Pride…

Bow wow…

On a mission in The Mission

Hey…

LX3 snap.

On Muni

LX3 snap…

This weekend: SF Pride 2009

This coming weekend the downtown will host the 2009 San Francisco Pride celebration and parade. Come on down, have some fun and show your support! I snapped the photo above during the 2008 Pride parade.

This year’s parade is Sunday, June 28th, starting at 10:30am at Market and Beale, and finishes at Market and 8th (click for a map). For photos, rather than trying to snap the parade behind barricades and dealing with tons of people, I like going a little earlier to the back where the parade is being staged and assembled.

Staging for SF Pride is along the sides streets, from Steuart through Beale. From the back you can mingle and bs with people, take snaps, etc, all without having to deal with huge crowds. For me shooting parades from 40 feet away isn’t all that interesting - all parades seem to look the same.  For taking photos, it’s much more interesting and more enjoyable getting close to people and engaging one-on-one looking for special moments.

But He hates your sin!

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Amazing access to some amazing photographs

Yesterday I along with 19 other very lucky photographers had the privilege of going behind the scenes at SF MOMA for a unique private showing of some amazing photographs accompanied with a talk by one of MOMA’s curators, Jessica McDonald, visiting from the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. The presentation was coordinated by the instructor of a photography class I’ve been taking at Foothill College, Prof. Ron Herman. The prints were by (top row) Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus, Thomas Barrow, Lewis Baltz, Jerry Uelsmann, Joel-Peter Witkin, Vik Muniz, Albelardo Morell, Loretta Lux; (bottom row) Lee Friedlander, William Eggleston, Henry Wessel, Melanie Walker, Robert Mapplethorpe, Susan Meiselas, Sally Mann, and Merry Alpern.

It was a awesome experience being able to see such outstanding prints up close within inches by some outstanding contemporary photographers. The accompanying discussion with Ms. McDonald and being able to ask questions was great.

After the private showing we went up to the special Robert Frank exhibit commemortating the 50th anniversary of the US publication of his book, The Americans. I’ve seen the show there three times previously since it opened in May. Each time I’ve learned something new; this time even more with the introduction and additional background information from the instructor.

Just an FYI, the above photo was snapped with my LX3 digicam.

Warning: H1N1 Virus Alert

Photographers

Another LX3 snap…

Hiding

Another LX3 pic from Saturday.  Still getting used to it…

Jason and his big camera

Most street photographers I know use either a (d)SLR or rangefinder camera for shooting on the street.  They’re small, easy to use, and easy to carry.  Jason, above, who is part of the SF group of street shooters I sometimes hang out and shoot with, uses a Crown Graphic, a camera that was used by press photographers many decades ago. Rather than using roll film, single sheets of 4″x5″ film are loaded inside the camera before an exposure is made.  He also shoots really neat super-wide street panoramas with a Widelux film camera that mechanically pivots the lens across the film plane during an exposure. You can check out his excellent work from both cameras by clicking here.

Four more SF’s Finest

Today I spent some time with a couple friends at the North Beach street fair getting in some practice with with my brand new Panasonic LX3 digicam. And about halfway through, came across SFPD Officers Shangaran, Tom, Lee, and Marcelo - keeping an eye on the event.

I’ve met a lot of SF cops and compared to those in other cities they’re the best; always a friendly attitude and willing to bs awhile and let me take photos. I’ve posted a few in previous blog entries.

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And speaking of police photographs, though I’ve blogged about this in the past, if you’d like to get a true feeling of behind the scenes SFPD culture and get a sense of the hectic and unpredictable nature of policing the streets of San Francisco, be sure and check out Sergeant Peter Toshinsky’s book, Blue in Black and White. Sergeant Toshinsky is a great photographer and an SFPD officer with more than two decades of service. His graphic and gritty B&W images, each paired with a few insightful thoughts, is probably the closest feeling one can get about the work without actually being a cop. Click here for more information and reviews.

Stuck in the crowd

Love at first sight

Looking up at SF MOMA

Break time

Cruising

Sketching on the N-Judah

I just got a new point-n-shoot, a Panasonic LX3, for doing snaps when I don’t want to carry my dSLR.  Still learning/playing with it and so far I’m happy. Here’s a jpeg pic snapped on Muni yesterday.

Wired

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Handy

Wash day

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Fan Ho reception

It you’re in the area Friday night, stop by Modernbook Gallery in Palo Alto and meet Fan Ho. He’s an amazing award-winning  photographer who captured the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong life in the 1950’s and ’60s in great dramatic style. The photo above is one I took several years ago.

On display at Modernbook will be 150 of Fan Ho’s vintage black and white photographs. In addition, his latest publication, The Living Theater, is now available and he’ll be signing copies at the reception.

The reception is from 7pm to 10pm, Friday June 5th.  His exhibition will run from June 5th through August 12th.  Stop by and check out his book and extraordinary body of work.

Modernbook Gallery is located at 494 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301. (650) 327-6325.

Watching the world go by

‘53 Chevy

New photo galleries coming…

When I started this blog ten months ago, one of my goals was to eventually get rid of my Citysnaps website. Why?  Because the content has been static for three years - it’s too difficult to make additions and changes, and that’s with using an html generator program. Even minor changes require finding the documentation, booting up the program, re-learning how everything works, and enduring a lot of screwing around to get things to look and behave right. It’s a huge PITA that always ends up taking several hours.

Contrast that with maintaining this Wordpress-based blog which is administered online, using any web browser from any computer with a network connection. Adding photos, or a set of photos in a flash gallery takes just minutes.

My current static photo galleries in the above menu bar were put up as kind of a no-thought place-holder until I figured out what I really wanted to show. I’ve now decided the website is going to go, and I need to put more thought into my static image galleries.  So…. In the next few days I’ll be putting up four galleries of my best photos; and will simply label them as Gallery 1, 2, 3, and Alcatraz.

Sushi

Permission to Rock

Carnaval 2009, more photos

Click here to view the set of photos

Last Sunday brought the Carnval parade to San Francisco’s Mission district. There were probably close to 100 entrants in the event, which started on 24th (at Harrison), and then turned onto Mission St.  There were tons of people lining the sidewalks behind portable barricades.

But rather than deal with the crowds, I shot back on Bryant St where the event was being staged and assembled. From there you can mingle with participants in the street, catching people hanging around, fixing makeup, and practicing for when their time comes up to join the parade. For me those are better moments to snag than what can be snapped along the parade route itself behind the barricades dealing with crowds of people.

San Francisco’s Impala Racing Team

Click here to view the set of photos

One of the most interesting group of runners I came across at last week’s 98th annual Bay to Breakers race was the centipede group (click here for a definition) from the San Francisco-based  Impala Racing Team.  The group, originally formed in 1979, is currently made up of professional women from San Francisco, Marin, the East Bay and on down to Santa Cruz.

Impala members running in this particular Bay to Breakers event included engineers, financial analysts, marketing managers, sales and advertising professionals, as well as medical and business school students, and a mom. The Impala’s objective is to provide a family-like, supportive, and goal-oriented atmosphere for the groups’ members off track as well as on. In addition, the Team’s deep commitment to competitive running has earned them Elite Development Club status from USA Track and Field.

Be sure and checkout the Imapala’s website to learn more about the group and their dedication to the sport. And here for their Facebook link.

As a side note, rather than photograph the group running, I decided to catch some pre-race moments of the team getting psyched-up and coached minutes before the race began - the light was just too nice at the start…

Getting pretty…

From Carnaval, in the Mission yesterday. More photos coming soon…

Garry Winogrand

 (be sure to click on “Garry Winogrand Part 2″ at the end to see the 2nd half)

You gotta love a photographer who comes home after a day of shooting on the street and puts his cams in a metal file cabinet; next to bags of hundreds of film canisters.  He died in 1984, but ask any street shooter which photographer first comes to mind and it will probably be Garry Winogrand.

In addition to his 2,500 exposed but undeveloped rolls of film left behind after passing away, there were an additional 6,500 rolls that had been processed, but not yet contact-printed.  As a prolific shooter exposing 12 to 15 rolls a day, he lived every moment of his life immersed in photography and being out on the street.

One of the things I respect most about Winogrand is his honest and blunt no-nonsense assessment of himself as a photographer.  There are loads of GW quotes on the web.  One I like the most is:

“I don’t lay myself down on the couch to figure out why I’m a photographer and not this or that. Whatever it is, I can’t seem to do enough of it. It’s a pleasure. What I found out, over photographing a long time - the more I do, the more I do.” 

Shooting for Winogrand was an obsession; and most of all it was about being out on the street and sucking in the rhythmic energy all large cities release. I can relate to that personally as that’s what I enjoy the most when shooting San Francisco. I can never get enough of the energy of just being out there being around tons of people and shooting the unusual. It’s difficult to describe, but can definitely be felt.

And finally, here are a few more Winogrand quotes I like:

• “I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.”
   
• “Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put  four edges around some facts, you change those facts.”
   
• “Photos have no narrative content.” 
   
• “There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described.”
   

Moo MiniCards are great!

Moo MiniCards are great.  For the last year, I’ve been passing them out to people I photograph and meet on the street. Each of my cards has a street image of mine on the front and my name and contact information on the back.

What’s really awesome about Moo cards, is that each card can have a different image. So if you order 100 cards from Moo, each can be printed with a different image. Or a single image - or any number of images that you’d like printed in a 100 card order. What I like about moo cards is that they also serve as kind of a portable mini-portfolio. Many times when giving one to a person I’ve engaged, they’ll ask to see more. Because of the card’s unique size, they’re more likely to be saved rather than tossed away. And they have a great feel to them with a laminate surface.

Moo is based in London and the company offers a variety of different photo card products. MiniCards (in the above photo), a larger business card, stickers, greeting cards, and post cards. All feature the ability to have different images printed on each piece. Service is great. And recently announced, Moo opened a new US operation which results in faster shipping and lower shipping costs if you’re located in North or South America. Ordering is easy. You go to Moo’s website, select the card product you’re interested in, upload your images, design the back with your text information, and then pay with a credit card or PayPal. Check them out! 

More Bay to Breakers pix…

Click here (or the photo below) for more pix.  All B&W and gritty…

SF Carnaval

The fourth weekend in May is coming up and that means Carnaval!  It’s a two day event in the Mission district.  But the best photo opportunities are on Sunday when the parade is held.  It starts at 24th and Harrison at 9:30am, Sunday, May 24th.  

But rather than shoot the parade itself (which to me isn’t all that interesting), I like going further back to Bryant St. where it’s staged and assembled. You can mingle and bs with people out in the street while they’re practicing, adjusting costumes, and waiting - and snag much better pix. And have at least a little better control over the light - which usually sucks anyway (bring a flash for fill…).  Otherwise, shooting along the parade route, you’re 30+ feet away behind barricades sardined in with a million people…

Bay to Breakers

Had a ton of fun at today’s Bay to Breakers run. Found a place to sneak in right at the start line, underneath an overpass and with the most awesome light I’ve ever seen. The light was so nice I left the flash, which I usually use for outside fill, in my bag. Was going to keep my pix in color, but with the gorgeous light, I’m going to render most in B&W.  More later…

Woman

I constructed this four image set based on the style of work by Lorna Simpson; a New York based contemporary photographer I’m studying at a local college. Simpson’s photographs confront popular perceptions of identity, race, culture, gender, and sex. I’m thinking about producing other constructed sets of images in the future that will hopefully speak to some of the issues I encounter on the street. 

Feathers

Just another random everyday San Francisco street photo.  Well, sort of…

Also, don’t forget, Bay to Breakers is this Sunday.  I’ll be there snapping…

California Academy of Sciences

One of the things I remember about grade school (a long time ago) was taking field trips to The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, also known as The Aquarium.  It was always a treat seeing the fish, reptiles, science exhibits and the planetarium shows.

Last year, the brand new Academy of Sciences building was opened after a five year remodel. I went there on Tuesday to check it out.  It was pretty amazing. The building, exhibits, and even the cafe. The photo above is shot from the ground floor inside the four story high enclosed rainforest exhibit, shooting through the overhead acrylic fish tank up towards the roof.

The only disappointment, and it was a big one for me, was the new Morrison Planetarium.  The old Morrison Planetarium, constructed in 1952, was built on an analog projection system using light-sources and lenses in a structure that looked like a giant ant. That projector was in the center of a circular auditorium. The projection quality was superb. In the past I’ve been to at least a dozen shows; all excellent.  

The new Morrison Planeatrium is built around six digital projectors, and the quality is nowhere near that of the analog system it replaces. Everything is fuzzy in poor focus; stars, images, text, etc.  Even the acoustics and audio quality was a big let-down from the previous system. Definately an example of where employing digital technology does not produce a better result!

Bruce Gilden

Thought some people might enjoy seeing how Magnum photographer Bruce Gilden works the streets with his camera and hand-held flash in New York City. Heh, he’s certainly not shy…

I was there…

Found in one of the aquarium tanks at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park yesterday.  More on my visit later…

Howerid Street

After I took my mom out for Mother’s Day yesterday, I hit the 10th annual How Weird Street Faire in SF (on Howard Street, get it?) in the afternoon.

Tons of people, many in costume.  Lots of music and super silliness.  Had a great time; people were really into the event. Will definitely go back next year. And maybe bring my mom…

Mickey and Tweety

A couple weeks ago I ran into fellow street shooter Vladimir.  This time he was shooting with Mickey and Tweety (with 35mm and 50mm lenses). The previous time I saw him he was with Mickey and Minnie.  Vladimir has been shooting in SF since the mid ’80s and has a lot of interesting stories. I’ve traded prints with him via the mail and he has a great eye…

Tunnel People

On Stockton St.

Announcing Citysnaps Magazine

I’d like to take this opportunity to announce Citysnaps Magazine. My 36 page first edition features 38 recent and favorite B&W street photographs taken in San Francisco.

Citysnaps is printed on 80# paper using the latest on-demand digital presses and  mailed to you in a clear protective wrapper. Issue #1 is priced at $9.95 and available now. I’m really excited about my first issue. Click this link for more information and to take an online peek at Citysnaps Magazine.

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