Citysnaps

Square street

It seems with my foray into iPhone photography most of my captures have been street portraiture. That’s in my blood, enjoying the process and excitement of the approach and engagement as a photographer, and usually learning something new from a subject as a result. That aspect of photography  will be with me forever.

For 2012, however, my goal is to try and balance that out a bit seeking more candid street photos. I always seem to bounce between the extremes of candid street photography and street portraiture. This year, with a more concerted effort, and not being so quick to reflexively snag portraits of subjects that seem interesting, I’m hoping to come back with more candid street photos.

The pic above was snapped at the Jewish Contemporary Museum in San Francisco. I’ve shot in that same area many times before with my dSLR, but in the past have always tried to include much more of the building and it’s dramatic architecture. This time I was looking for just a hint of the building and think the above photo turned out much better.

Excelsior streets

Life on the street…

This is one of my last 2011 photos. It was taken Saturday afternoon, Dec. 31st while prowling San Francisco’s Excelsior district. That’s a new neighborhood for me. There are parts of the area where it feels time has stood still. The energy there is great. Ended up getting three or four photos I’m happy with and will definitely be exploring more there in the near future.

Thinking back on my treks and picture-making in 2011, I came to a realization about why I shoot:  Picture making for me is both an enabler and byproduct, almost a consequence, of experiencing life on the street. I think that sums it up pretty well!

Hope everyone has a productive and peaceful 2012!

Market and Powell snap…

Here’s another candid snap from my iPhone. Will be interesting to see how long I use it for shooting on the street. Frankly, I’m surprised I’ve been using it exclusively for 4-5 months! It’s great not having to drag around my big cam and lens. Fits in my pocket just right, and does soooo much more than take pictures. It’s my Swiss Army Knife of cameras and street/portrait photography…

Thank You for helping!

Frankki and companion Bruiser • Tenderloin, San Francisco

Almost two weeks ago Travis Jensen and I reached our goal of selling 300 copies of Tenderloin USA Photo Journal. Currently the number is at 311 copies. Altogether, that represents $2,916 going to San Francisco’s Larkin Street Youth Services to provide meals, counseling, housing, educational, and medical services to at-risk youth between the ages of 12 and 24 living on the street.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who purchased a copy! We’re hoping to hit the $3,000 mark real soon…

.

.

Gibson: Another street portrait…

I’ve been shooting exclusively with my iPhone 4, both street photography and street portraiture for about the last four months. I’m having a blast! It’s really liberating not carrying a heavy camera and lens plus bag…

A gathering…

Occupy Saks

Snapped on Black Friday in San Francisco.

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving!

On the street…

Stylin…

Unscheduled maintenance

Street Portrait: Gibson

 That’s Gibson. Lives in Oakland, but snapped him in downtown San Francisco…

Nevada Bound: A six day desert road trip — Available now…

Nevada Bound Photo Journal is the result of a six-day, 1,600 mile “On the Road” / “Easy Rider” style adventure across Nevada’s vast desert and back.

Authored by photographers Brad Evans and Travis Jensen, the 60-page journal speaks to the freedom experienced hitting the open road, exploring new ground, and making decisions on the fly with no set agenda, all while photographed from a street photographers perspective and sensibility.

Priced at $15, Nevada Bound features 70 photographs, representing a diverse mix of color and black-and-white landscapes, candid scenes, portraiture, and desert oddities that are somewhat hard to classify.

Select photographs from Nevada Bound will also be available for purchase in limited runs, printed on Kodak Endura Metallic paper. Ordering info and pricing can be found in the back of the journal.

The official Nevada Bound launch party will be held on Thursday, October 27, at 6pm in the banquet room at Schroeder’s Restaurant, 240 Front Street (a half block from Two Embarcadero) in San Francisco’s Financial District.

Please click here to check out and/or purchase Nevada Bound Photo Journal.

Big thanks for your support!

-Travis and Brad

.

Note:  MagCloud is offering a Halloween Trick or Treat 25% discount on the printing costs of all journals starting today, and running until October 31st. Because of that, Nevada Bound is priced at $11.65 during this period.

Occupy SF in ten

After going through and editing all my captures, I put togtether a short photoessay of ten images. Click the displayed image to advance to the next…

Portraiture

Mission in Ten photoessay

Lately I’ve been shooting with just my iPhone, with the last couple of outings being in San Francisco’s Mission district. My big camera is mostly staying in my bag. Needles to say, I’m really enjoying the experience. And am liking the square format more and more.

I put together a 10 photograph Mission photoessay - Click the displayed image to advance to the next…

The above photos were taken on Mission St, within a block or so…

16th and Mission

2011 Folsom Street Fair, in Square

The 2011 Folsom Street Fair was last Sunday, as many in San Francisco already know. The fair usually brings out lots of photographers, though I haven’t been shooting many events lately.

But… Since overcast and light rain were forecast for the day, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Previous years were awful with harsh light that made shooting difficult at best.

This time I decided to leave my dSLR in my bag and experiment shooting with my cellphone cam. That is, until my phone’s battery died later in the afternoon. Today I purchased an external battery that will in the future let me shoot for extended periods.

Click the displayed image to advance to the next… Warning, some are NSFW…

Folsom Street 2011

On Geary

In the Tenderloin…

Snuggles

In the Tenderloin. Where else?

Suits

Desert bound

A week ago Travis Jensen and I returned from a 1,600 mile, six day no-agenda-in-mind photo road trip through Nevada’s desert. It was one of the best road trips I’ve ever been on.

Hitting the road August 13 with a Dodge Charger rented at SFO, we cruised east on Highway 80 with our first day’s driving ending in Lovelock, Nevada. There, and along the way, we took a lot of photos and met some really great people at Pershing’s Pub. Then next day was on to Winnemuca for the second night, with more photos snapped at some really interesting spots. The next morning it was back on 80 driving through Battle Mountain, Elko, and Wells, and then heading south down Highway 93. We stayed in Ely, where the following day we picked up Highway 50 (“America’s Loneliest Road”) for the return west. More small towns and a diversion on Highways 722 and 95, an Indian reservation, a stay in Fallon, and then up to Reno for two days. It was an amazing trip!

We’re still going through our photos, but so far we’re really digging what we snagged…

Yada yada yada

Loading Zone

Street portrait: Marcos

That’s Marcos up above. I met him and a few other people while attending a friend’s exhibition in downtown Oakland a few weeks ago. It was a good opportunity to take a few portraits. Here’s another portrait I posted on All City…

Thank you!

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the Tenderloin USA launch party last week. With around 300 people stopping by over the evening, and selling out of our on-hand stock of Tenderloin USA Photo Journals, we’re calling the event a huge success!

Also wanted to let everyone know that so far we’ve raised more than $2,300 for Larkin Street Youth Services. And that’s what really has made the project great!

Togetherness

Tenderloin USA Photo Journal Launch Party

We’re having a party to celebrate the launch of Tenderloin USA Photo Journal. It will be at Ever Gold Gallery, 441 O’Farrell St. (between Taylor and Jones), on Wednesday, August 10th, between 6 and 10pm. There’s a parking garage on O’Farrell and Taylor, just a half a block away. Hope to see you there!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tenderloin USA Featured in San Francisco Chronicle

About a week ago, Travis and I hooked up with San Francisco Chronicle writer David Wagner for lunch at Little Henry’s restaurant on Larkin Street for an interview about our Tenderloin USA project. We figured the story would end up as a small piece somewhere in the paper’s Datebook section, but come Saturday morning were shocked to discover it made the cover – and the story was substantial! Check out the online version here.

Pictured above are Ashley, her dog Diamond, and Kenny, holding up the paper for the shot. They live in a building near Geary and Hyde along with a handful of other individuals we’ve photographed in the past, two of which are featured in our journal.

We’re now halfway past our goal of selling 300 journals and are stoked about the money we’re raising for Larkin Street Youth Services. To review or purchase Tenderloin USA Photo Journal, please click here.

Also, we’ll be having an official launch party for Tenderloin USA on Wednesday, August 10, from 6-10pm at Ever Gold Gallery, located at 441 O’Farrell St (between Taylor and Jones). A flier will be posted soon. Please stop by if you’re in the area!

Someday…

.

Giving Back

Now that Tenderloin USA Photo Journal has launched, I thought it would be good to talk about an important element of our project.

For some background, Tenderloin USA did not start off as an official “project.” Rather, it slowly morphed into one during our exploration of the Tenderloin over the past year. Through the process of engaging dozens of people in the neighborhood it became clear we had a story to tell through our photographs, subject stories, and personal anecdotes. And it was something we thought could be shared with others. Tenderloin USA was thus born.

Not long after that, from thinking about project and publication possibilities, we decided that giving back to the community we spent so much time in would not only be a great thing to do, but the right thing to do. Particularly, if that could somehow benefit one of the most vulnerable segments in the neighborhood; at-risk youth. That was on Travis’ mind right from the beginning. Both Travis and I are really proud that we decided to make giving back to the community that we regularly take from one of the foundations of our project.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tenderloin USA Photo Journal – Available now!

After a year of shooting in the neighborhood at all hours of the day, and after a ton of edits and revisions, Travis Jensen and I are proud to announce the availability of Tenderloin USA Photo Journal.

Our 50 page perfect-bound journal is a photographer’s view into the the process of engagement through photographing and talking to dozens of people inside one of San Francisco’s most vibrant neighborhoods, The Tenderloin. It has been an amazing experience for us and one we’d like to share through our publication. We’re very pleased with the way it has turned out; the photographss we’ve taken, the short stories we gathered, our personal anecdotes, and the overall journal design. We think you’ll like it too!

And, as a way of giving back to the community we’ve spent so much time in, all proceeds in excess of printing costs will go directly to Larkin Street Youth Services, a SF youth services organization providing shelter, medical and other services to at-risk and homeless youth between the ages of 12 and 24.

Tenderloin USA Photo Journal can be previewed and ordered here:  http://tenderloin.magcloud.com

Please check it out when you have a moment!

Tenderloin USA

At 50 pages, Tenderloin USA is a black-and-white photojournalistic odyssey of discovery and exploration through one of San Francisco’s most vibrant yet often overlooked neighborhoods, the Tenderloin, a.k.a. “The TL,” a.k.a. “The Loin.”

Authored by local photographers Brad Evans and Travis Jensen, Tenderloin USA takes readers on a photographic journey deep into the heart of the Tenderloin, with focus on the folks who live, work, own businesses, hang out, and raise families in the culturally diverse neighborhood.

With a shared love for people and the process of engagement, Evans and Jensen’s goal when photographing in the neighborhood is to portray the individuals they meet with respect and dignity.  They believe it would have been far to easy and inaccurate to paint the Tenderloin in a negative light, so instead focused their project on the neighborhood’s more positive aspects, mixed with a little of in-between.

Priced at $20, all proceeds after printing costs from Tenderloin USA will go directly to Larkin Street Youth Services, a San Francisco-based charity organization, which provides homeless, runaway and at-risk kids between the ages of 12 and 24 with various support services, including emergency shelter, primary medical care, transitional housing, job training and scholarship assistance.

Tenderloin USA is slated for release on Monday, July 11, 2011.

– Travis Jensen

.

7/23/11 edit:  Tenderloin USA is now available. Click HERE to preview or purchase a copy.

Just some guys

My Vlad shot

I don’t take many vertical street shots of people on the sidewalk. That’s something that Vlad has pretty much nailed. But mine up above feels like it could have been one of his.

Funnily enough though, I was bs-ing with Vlad about cameras, leaning against the wall of the Westfield shopping mall on Market street last Saturday when I took this. I saw her zipping down the sidewalk at a decent clip and when she was about 10-15 feet from us I said (to Vlad), “Hold on,” stepped out in her path, crouched and framed up the shot in the viewfinder, snapped, and then was back to the wall with Vlad. Without missing a beat and all in about a second or so. I think he was impressed.  Though he feels his presence was an enabling factor. No doubt there was some inspiration!

To tell you the truth, the photo is not something I’m all that stoked about, though Vlad seems to like it. He did say it was a pity it was wasted on pixels, though. But it was an interesting exercise in reflexes! Maybe I’ve earned the right to shoot with an M2 now?

Street portrait: SFPD Officer Alex Gonzalez

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted up a San Francisco Police Department officer street portrait…  I took the above photo of Officer Alex Gonzalez back in January in the downtown at Powell and Market. He’s attached to the Southern Station precinct. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I’m always glad to see them on the street. And they’re always great to converse with. If you see them out there, give ‘em a nod!

Tags: SFPD

Shuron and Jasmine

Tenderloin USA…

Bumping into past subjects

Yesterday I hooked up with photobud Travis Jensen at 6:30am for another morning of Tenderloin shooting. We met a few interesting people and had some interesting conversations with subjects while taking their portraits. The light is super at that hour and the neighborhood energy much different than in the afternoon.

We’ve been shooting in the neighborhood for quite awhile now and have slowly built up a nice body of work. What’s great is we now regularly run into people who recognize us. Catching up with people is satisfying – I think we’re slowly being accepted as “the photographers,” out doing our thing. It’s also a good time to  give prints back to subjects previously photographed.

Up at the top is Julius holding a couple photos I just gave him, shot last year a few blocks away. He was really stoked receiving them. Several times during yesterday’s encounter he said getting the prints made his day. Hearing those words made mine as well!

-

Street portrait: Jerome

Snapped in San Francisco’s downtown…

Vlad Photo

I love getting photo post cards from Vlad. And the one above I received two days ago is no exception. Addressed to Pixel Junkie, the back side did not disappoint and was chocked full of Vlad’s best writing, splendidly rendered in his typical sardonic style. It’s what he has to say on the back that makes me smile. I’ll quote the first two sentences:

“Ho-hum, another “French Cliché” trudging along the rut of HCB. I call these “Boredom Tooshes” and every time I do one I feel like I’m poaching in Brad Evans’ territory, but my Ego justifies it by insisting mine are better than his.”

Love it!

We’ve been trading cards off and on (though I’ve been lax lately in sending mine) for more than five years now and have quite a stack. Getting a silver gelatin photo card from Vlad (always addressed to either Pixel Junkie, Pixel Victim, Pixel Slave, Digital Evans, or Brad Pixelitis) is something I always look forward to.

Tags: Vlad

Edward, followup in the Tenderloin…

This morning I went out shooting again in the Tenderloin neighborhood and lo and behold, I ran into Edward again on Larkin Street. As I mentioned in the previous post, bumping into subjects again is not that unusual. And, as it turned out, he emailed me last night (from my card) wanting to know if I could send him some photos  - which I sent last night.

For me, encountering subjects again to hand over a photo is always a cool experience. People are not expecting that. And when they first see themselves on the print there’s always a few moments of study and reflection.

Anyway… Edward liked it, but was hoping it would be in color. No problem, I’ll send an email with a color version and make another print for the next time I run into him. Like this morning’s encounter, I have a feeling I’ll be seeing him again…

Giving prints to people is cool. I encourage anybody that shoots street portraits of people that you might expect to see again to look into doing that. It’s a good thing to do!

Edward in the Tenderloin, and shooting street portraits.

I’ve been shooting mostly just in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood lately. A lot. Early morning, during the day, and at night. I love the energy there and of course the people. That part is essential.

Every once in awhile other photographers will ask me about shooting street portraits of strangers. Last week I received an email from one wanting to know about my approach. In some online forums there have been discussions about “tricks” that can be used.

For me, there are no tricks. It’s as simple as approaching a potential subject straight up and just asking. When I first spot someone from a distance that I think would make a strong portrait, before making the approach I immediately start thinking about potential backgrounds and the light. If the light is bad why bother? Bad light immediately kills photos that would otherwise be strong. If the subject looks good, the light decent, and there’s a suitable background nearby I’ll approach and make my pitch. Most people say yes. Some want to know why. A straightforward I’m documenting the City or it’s for my photoblog works great.

I was out shooting in the neighborhood last week with photographer Travis Jensen after hooking up with him at 6:30am. That’s early! We were heading up Larkin Street from Civic Center and spotted Edward who was across the street from us, between Ellis and O’Farrell. The light was nice, and there was an interesting storefront nearby. After running across to the other side to approach him, a smile and a simple, “Hey, how ya doing,” was all that was needed for breaking the ice. He was dressed pretty stylishly, so I commented on that and asked if he’d be good for some pictures. He said yes and that’s all there was to it. I took a bunch of photos, against the storefront and on the sidewalk with the street in the background. The photos posed on the sidewalk were much better, showing more depth and neighborhood context. As with all my street portrait subjects, I gave Edward my card and asked him to email me for an image file. I also made a 4×6 print for carrying in my bag in case I see him again. I run into previous subjects more than you’d imagine. Giving someone a print is a great way of giving back.

Jiwon at High Tide

One of my favorite hangouts in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood is the High Tide bar on Geary and Jones. It’s always a great place to relax after an afternoon of shooting in the area. And it’s even better when hooking up and bs-ing with a group of fellow brotographers. It’s my hangout of choice, having a ton of character and super bartenders.

That’s Jiwon up above, one of the bartenders at High Tide. She always has a great attitude and smile whenever my photobuds and I come in for a brew or two after a hectic week. What’s nice is that Jiwon and the others there are always good for taking a few snaps, like the one up above. The High Tide experience is just one more reason why I like shooting in the Tenderloin so much.

.

Jerome. And some Tenderloin street portraits

That’s Jerome up above and on the left. I ran into him a month or so ago while out shooting on a Sunday morning in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

Born in SF, Jerome was in the Marine Corp for eight years, raised three sons (of which two are twins) and worked as a longshoreman. While in the service, he traveled all over the world . When asked what his favorite city was, Hong Kong was his answer.

I put together a gallery of some of the people I’ve engaged and photographed in the Tenderloin over the last year.

Thought I’d share the gallery here with a link:

Click here to see the set…

I’m still editing the set of portriats, but there are now currently 33 images. And I’ve intentionally mixed color with black and white to see how that works. Comments are appreciated on how you think that works…

Among many

March bride

Taking a time out

Glance

Out of the forrest

A communiqué from Vladimir

Vlad sent an email yesterday asking me to pass on a message to the Leica brethren who have been talking about his cameras on a popular online Leica forum. Members there have been following my stories about him here on my blog. According to Vlad, the forum does not allow registration with a yahoo email account and therefore he’s not able to post the message himself.

Vlad says:

Re the “makeup” on my Leica Harem, I would like to quote ancient Ukrainian folk wisdom:  if you want a wife who will always stay by your side, marry somebody so ugly that nobody will want to touch her.  I am married to my M2s, I chose them because I could see that Leica would never make anything better, and because they will be with me “till death do us part” I can modify them in any way that optimizes their fulfillment of their mission. Resale value is for whores.  Cést la Vie.

Tags: Vlad

Passing through

Snapped at a one of my favorite places on Powell and Market in San Francisco. That particular area is where a variety of people come together from different directions. There’s usually something to snag if you hang around long enough.

Seen in the downtown

By the way…

Quiet streets

.

…

Eye contact

.

.

Frank, in the Mission

.

.

I snapped this photo of Frank at the 16th/Mission BART station plaza. After chatting a bit, I asked him if I could take his picture. He replied, “Sure, as long as it doesn’t hurt!”

.

In good company

…