Oakland - On Friday, while walking from a meeting in San Francisco's civic center complex to our office in the financial district, I realized that I was feeling so much more at home here than I had been last week in downtown Chicago... A place that I worked in for 15 years.
That was reinforced this morning when, on 880, a pickup truck lost a load of large plastic bottles all over the right lane. Three people pulled over and helped the guy pick everything up, while everyone else stopped and patiently waited til the lane was clear. No honking, no road rage, no passing. Again, so unlike what I'd witnessed most every morning on the highways of Chicago.
***
This morning, after not enough sleep, I did a shoot with Keira Grant out on the headlands. The light was perfect, fog just burning off, directional light but soft. It was a good decision to schedule just the one shoot here this weekend, fun without the stress that any more bookings would have brought.
Tomorrow I head home after a late morning meeting in San Francisco, and for the first time in two months there's no immediate travel on the horizon.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Hot city night
Yesterday I decided that I did want to shoot after all, just not with most of the local people who are offering at the moment. So instead I sent a text to Chrystyne and asked her if she was in the mood to shoot. The answer came back in minutes, "how about tonight?
Perfect, because it was too hot to do anything by day anyway.
We walked the few blocks from her place to the elevated train. She wore a very short and very tight black dress, and packed two changes of clothes in a bag. We took the train to the south loop, got off near the Board of Trade building and started shooting on LaSalle Street. It was still hot, 87 degrees and humid, and with lots of people on the streets.
We worked our way north on LaSalle, stopping twice for creative on-street changes of clothes. We ended near the Merchandise Mart, then hopped back on a northbound train.
There's so much light downtown at night, it was easy to shoot at 1/30th second most of the time at EI 640.
On the return train ride, there was a young guy passed out in his own vomit, in the midst of a crowded train car. As we traded mass transit for a car and did a short drive to get a snack, the craziness continued.... Three times, someone stopped in the middle of the street for no apparent reason, just parked mid block in the path of traffic. Then, cop cars converging from three directions, sliding to a stop a block in front of me, dragging two guys out of a van and throwing them up against the side of the vehicle... I didn't stay around long enough to see what that was about.
After dropping off Chryssy, I stopped at Exit about 1:00 am to see the post-apocalyptic burlesque performance. It was bad, actually. Bad fire dancing, worse than most of what I've seen from stoner girls on California beaches. And a too-fast strip tease by a cute girl who spent too much time in a corner where half the audience couldn't see her.
The edgy burlesque craze has perhaps been good in the sense of shaking things up a little, but the act gets old after seeing it maybe twice. Fire and nipple tape and grinders throwing sparks from metal plates can only mask a lack of experience and discipline for so long. There are things a girl with classical dance background can do that most of these girls can't. It will be interesting to see where this trend goes in the near future. Right now, its just overdone.
There were a few friends and acquaintances in the room, Natalya and Kristin and Peter and others. There was another offer to model, one I'll probably take because she's got a really interesting face. Then there was a bizarre moment when one of the performers interrupted my conversation with a friend... This particular performer being someone I've declined to photograph in the past.
This morning I worked after only four hours of sleep, but it was all worthwhile. When I woke from an afternoon nap, the heat had broken, the humidity fallen, it was in the 70s with a nice breeze as night fell.
Perfect, because it was too hot to do anything by day anyway.
We walked the few blocks from her place to the elevated train. She wore a very short and very tight black dress, and packed two changes of clothes in a bag. We took the train to the south loop, got off near the Board of Trade building and started shooting on LaSalle Street. It was still hot, 87 degrees and humid, and with lots of people on the streets.
We worked our way north on LaSalle, stopping twice for creative on-street changes of clothes. We ended near the Merchandise Mart, then hopped back on a northbound train.
There's so much light downtown at night, it was easy to shoot at 1/30th second most of the time at EI 640.
On the return train ride, there was a young guy passed out in his own vomit, in the midst of a crowded train car. As we traded mass transit for a car and did a short drive to get a snack, the craziness continued.... Three times, someone stopped in the middle of the street for no apparent reason, just parked mid block in the path of traffic. Then, cop cars converging from three directions, sliding to a stop a block in front of me, dragging two guys out of a van and throwing them up against the side of the vehicle... I didn't stay around long enough to see what that was about.
After dropping off Chryssy, I stopped at Exit about 1:00 am to see the post-apocalyptic burlesque performance. It was bad, actually. Bad fire dancing, worse than most of what I've seen from stoner girls on California beaches. And a too-fast strip tease by a cute girl who spent too much time in a corner where half the audience couldn't see her.
The edgy burlesque craze has perhaps been good in the sense of shaking things up a little, but the act gets old after seeing it maybe twice. Fire and nipple tape and grinders throwing sparks from metal plates can only mask a lack of experience and discipline for so long. There are things a girl with classical dance background can do that most of these girls can't. It will be interesting to see where this trend goes in the near future. Right now, its just overdone.
There were a few friends and acquaintances in the room, Natalya and Kristin and Peter and others. There was another offer to model, one I'll probably take because she's got a really interesting face. Then there was a bizarre moment when one of the performers interrupted my conversation with a friend... This particular performer being someone I've declined to photograph in the past.
This morning I worked after only four hours of sleep, but it was all worthwhile. When I woke from an afternoon nap, the heat had broken, the humidity fallen, it was in the 70s with a nice breeze as night fell.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Ambiguous
Last night I finally got out for the first time this trip, finally was able to take a break from working.
First, a Naked Girls Reading performance, because a friend was up on stage and I'd promised her that I would be there. If a bit long at more than three hours, it was a fun performance, and diverse in more ways than one. Then, over to 1901 Belmont for an art opening, then over to Lucky Number. It wasn't all that late of an evening, I was in by 2 am.
I encountered various women who I have photographed, or who I've talked to about doing photos. Last night was pretty non committal, interest but no specific dates just yet. I could have pushed one or two into doing something this trip easily enough, yet chose not to. I found myself to be pretty indifferent, not really caring if or when they got in front of the camera. If it happens, great. If not, well I'm not feeling any desire to chase after them.
I did have fun taking a handful of on location shots of some of those same people, using the lights and blurred backgrounds and bokeh of wide open images in poorly lit clubs and performance spaces. In fact I might go and do some more of this tonight, perhaps at Exit.... The found-composition nature of this kind of work is closer to my journalism origins, and sometimes offers wonderful juxtapositions.
I did sell a print last night at the Naked Girls performance, an image of one of the participants. A member of the audience asked her about that photo, and she said "the photographer is here" and made the introductions. The randomness of it was far more important than the token amount of money, although the net result was that my evening out was paid for.
First, a Naked Girls Reading performance, because a friend was up on stage and I'd promised her that I would be there. If a bit long at more than three hours, it was a fun performance, and diverse in more ways than one. Then, over to 1901 Belmont for an art opening, then over to Lucky Number. It wasn't all that late of an evening, I was in by 2 am.
I encountered various women who I have photographed, or who I've talked to about doing photos. Last night was pretty non committal, interest but no specific dates just yet. I could have pushed one or two into doing something this trip easily enough, yet chose not to. I found myself to be pretty indifferent, not really caring if or when they got in front of the camera. If it happens, great. If not, well I'm not feeling any desire to chase after them.
I did have fun taking a handful of on location shots of some of those same people, using the lights and blurred backgrounds and bokeh of wide open images in poorly lit clubs and performance spaces. In fact I might go and do some more of this tonight, perhaps at Exit.... The found-composition nature of this kind of work is closer to my journalism origins, and sometimes offers wonderful juxtapositions.
I did sell a print last night at the Naked Girls performance, an image of one of the participants. A member of the audience asked her about that photo, and she said "the photographer is here" and made the introductions. The randomness of it was far more important than the token amount of money, although the net result was that my evening out was paid for.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Travel
Yesterday I drove down to the Bay Area, and after a brief stop in Oakland headed across the Bay to catch an early evening flight to Chicago. Uneventful, as these things go. I've been remarkably lucky with flights these past several years, considering that I fly a fair amount the delays have been minor and few. Other things I'll take some credit for... Flying with carry on bags only means no opportunity for misplaced luggage.
Weather is complicating my Chicago projects, with frequent thunderstorms keeping my team hotel bound too often. If we can get four good days of the next 10, we should be OK. Until we do, it messes with scheduling. One of my key people goes home tomorrow after more than a month on the ground here, which means more work for me to wrap things up.
I haven't planned any shoots yet, and probably won't till the work schedule is a little more set. There are opportunities, if I choose to make them happen, but after three last trip, and hardly any time at home since early June, I'm already behind so not pushing too hard for more. There are also multiple Bay Area opportunities, and I'll have a few days there on the way home.
After this, the travel schedule becomes less certain. I'll be back here for meetings this fall, but may have as little as a week advance notice. Hard to plan like that. It is what it is, all one can do is make the best of it.
Weather is complicating my Chicago projects, with frequent thunderstorms keeping my team hotel bound too often. If we can get four good days of the next 10, we should be OK. Until we do, it messes with scheduling. One of my key people goes home tomorrow after more than a month on the ground here, which means more work for me to wrap things up.
I haven't planned any shoots yet, and probably won't till the work schedule is a little more set. There are opportunities, if I choose to make them happen, but after three last trip, and hardly any time at home since early June, I'm already behind so not pushing too hard for more. There are also multiple Bay Area opportunities, and I'll have a few days there on the way home.
After this, the travel schedule becomes less certain. I'll be back here for meetings this fall, but may have as little as a week advance notice. Hard to plan like that. It is what it is, all one can do is make the best of it.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Mediocrity
One of the frustrations of this extended Chicago trip is the feeling of being surrounded by sleepwalkers. The drivers are the most obvious, and the most dangerous manifestation. Thoughtless me-first behavior abounds, and almost every day I witness things on the roads that would make me laugh if they weren't potentially deadly.
Then there's the traffic itself. Some of the highways... I-94 is a prime example... Are gridlock more often than not. There's talk of finding ways to get people out of cars, but no real action. The sheep just return to the traffic jam day after day. Now, even travel in off hours doesn't seem to help any longer.
Then there's the construction, with alternates blocked at the same time as main routes, and the mindlessness of things like street fairs shutting down major arterials on Friday evening rush hour with no attempt at early warning signage to allow detours and avoid traffic jams. Basically, one learns the reason for the jam up at the verge of the event.
There are other things, but the commonality is a tolerance of mediocrity that seem to me to begin at the level of state and city government.
What a waste of what could have been a world class city.
Then there's the traffic itself. Some of the highways... I-94 is a prime example... Are gridlock more often than not. There's talk of finding ways to get people out of cars, but no real action. The sheep just return to the traffic jam day after day. Now, even travel in off hours doesn't seem to help any longer.
Then there's the construction, with alternates blocked at the same time as main routes, and the mindlessness of things like street fairs shutting down major arterials on Friday evening rush hour with no attempt at early warning signage to allow detours and avoid traffic jams. Basically, one learns the reason for the jam up at the verge of the event.
There are other things, but the commonality is a tolerance of mediocrity that seem to me to begin at the level of state and city government.
What a waste of what could have been a world class city.
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