Posts Tagged: san francisco
Art and its Discontents
Reflexive Meta-level #1 (click image to enlarge)
First in a series. There is nothing new about art taking art as its subject, either generally or with respect to some specific aspect, such as the role or situation of the viewer. Nonetheless, I am noticing a pattern in my work of noticing the viewer, and I aim to follow it to see where it leads.
Christmas Time Sunset
San Francisco Sunset (click image to view large)
We picked Sarah’s parents up in Emeryville and headed down to Newark for dinner with friends. Across the bay, the sun was setting behind San Francisco. I tried to resist, but as we were leaving, I couldn’t stand it anymore and stopped to take some shots of the sunset. Out on the south side of the Watergate, the last burning rays reflected off the low-tide mud, and it was just too much to not at least try to shoot. I only had the 35mm prime with me, but it would have to do. I’m pleasantly surprised at how well this hand-held 1/25th sec. shot came out. Granted, I had to kneel in the ice plant in my dress clothes to stabilize myself.
Minna 3
Last month we went to see the Cartier-Bresson exhibit at SF MOMA. It was a wonderful exhibit, and very inspiring. Yet upon leaving the building, I found myself up to my old ways as I tried to photograph an empty, unremarkable alleyway. It guess it was the converging lines that caught my feeble attention. But getting the shot took me several tries on account of the people that kept walking by. And why shouldn’t they? They had somewhere to go, somewhere to be, things to think about; they had no reason to pay any mind to yet another tourist with an oversized camera. Well, persistent misanthrope that I am, I finally got my desired shot in all its starkness. But now in the weeks that have gone by, the more I look at them all, the more I like the intrusions. Perhaps some of that sympathetic Cartier-Bresson started to sink in after all.
Minna #1
Minna #2
Minna #3
Weekly Photo Challenge: Refuge
Meditation Window Display / © neo serafimidis
As we walked around the Mission last month with friends, we came upon this situation at Artists’ Television Access. Pairs of people taking turns meditating in the window. I was lucky enough to see the shift change, so I know they’re real. It just goes to show you, real refuge is in the mind of the refugee.
Better Late Than Never
One thing leads to another. For example, a business lead leads to a dinner. For example, a dinner at Greens in San Francisco.
I first heard of Greens in the mid-80s. At the time, I was working at Harland’s Restaurant in Fresno, where friend and chef Sheli Stancato was a big fan of the place. I think my recipe for black bean chili passed along by Sheli originates from Greens. Also, I was studying Eastern philosophy in college about this time, and when I had a course on Buddhism we took a field trip to the Zen Center in San Franciso, the organization that built and founded the restaurant. But we didn’t make it to the restaurant. So, it has taken me quite some time to make the pilgrimage.
It was an interesting coincidence. A couple of months ago, a friend and I came to hear an electronic music concert, part of the San Francisco Tape Music Festival, in a theater at Fort Mason. Afterwards, cold and dark as it was, we wandered around the grounds for awhile, I realized that this is where Greens is. I didn’t know, even after living the last ten years in the Bay Area. Then, just a few weeks later, we ended up out at Fort Mason again when friends were visiting from Seattle and staying in the City, and went to see the handful of Exploratorium interactive exhibits installed around Fort Mason. This time, we had a great takeout lunch of sandwiches from Greens.
Finally, Angelo called to say we’re going to dinner and had made reservations at Greens, totally coincidentally. So after years of not being anywhere near the radar screen, Greens serendipitously pulled me into its gravitational field three times in just a few weeks.
Dinner was wonderful. Was it transcendent? Well, not quite, but almost. The wild mushroom ravioli above was fantastic, and very generous, as was everything else our group had. I hope it doesn’t take another 25 years to make it back. Something tells me it won’t.
Tape Music Festival
Building with Lights, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco CA.
This evening I managed to attend The San Francisco Tape Music Festival 2011. I enjoyed it immensely. There were some really wonderful pieces and an appreciative audience. Of course, many in the audience were probably participants waiting their turn on this or one of the next two nights–I recognize that this is not a hugely popular genre. Nonetheless, it was good to see a decent audience out for this kind of art. I myself would go fairly regularly to see and hear experimental music if I could, but life is different now than it was when I was in college with few real obligations and responsibilities.
In any case, the first half consisted of works by Adrian Moore, Mauricio Kagel, Paul Dresher, and bran(…)pos. It was a solid set that really showcased the power of electronic music experienced in a good venue with a terrific multi-channel sound system. The second half was more mixed with a piece by Christian Marclay being the standout. To be fair, by the time the second half began, my ears and brain were tired and I was surely not as receptive as I was earlier in the evening. The relative accessibility of the Marclay piece, with its turntablism aesthetic, gave it a leg up at this point in the evening.
The concert was at the Southside Theater at Fort Mason Center. I have never been to this particular space before, and had not been out to Fort Mason in a couple years, so wandering the foggy cold grounds for a bit after the show was a treat in itself. The Exploratorium has some installations along the water that focus on the nature of SF Bay, and they were interesting to see.
Beyond being a consumer, I was really inspired to again be a producer. Following on yesterday’s confessional post regarding picking up the guitar again, I’m now entertaining a commitment to using the gear that has been set up and dutifully standing by for years. It has sat here day after day as if any second I would just jump in and start working again at composing electronic.
I used to compose a lot, and even naively thought of it as a career track. I wish I had pursued it more rigorously and with determination. I’d love to have a job making experimental electronic music. And making fine art photographs. And perhaps putting the two together. Can’t I just have a patron?
The Industrial Age
One of the last images my little Nikon D40x took before the shutter refused to budge anymore.
This last weekend was jam-packed with activities and photo ops. It started on Saturday with a whole day and evening sailing in San Francisco Bay. Well, not quite sailing. We were a crew with only one current sailor, and a bay with strong winds and lots of white caps. So, the sails remained furled and the engine hummed. Nonetheless, it was beautiful day with none of the forecast rain, and all the anticipated excitement of seeing a beautiful urban landscape from a unique perspective. And that night, we watched the KFOG kaboom fireworks show from out on the water.
The next day we checked out Maker Faire for the second time. It sneaked up on us again, so we didn’t have the time or freedom from a certain Lego maniac to see as much as we wanted. Worse yet, there were no pictures taken. The reason goes back to the previous day.
While otherwise glorious, there was sadness, too, during our sailing excursion. Above is one of the last pictures my little D40x took before the shutter mechanism quit working. There was suspicion that the environment led to the failure. But I was careful to keep it pretty dry and I don’t think it was out there long enough for salty air to penetrate the body and gum up the gears. I’ve searched for information online and it looks like quite a few people have experienced the same error. One person posted a fix. I just need to get some tiny screwdrivers to take the camera a little bit apart and apply WD-40 to a gear or two. I’m hoping for the best, though clearly, the camera was not built to last as long as this bridge.
Stream of consciousness: Scenic photos
Climbing up on Albany Hill
San Francico Bay from Albany Hill, Sept. 19, 2009 #2
I’m not sure what to call the kind of photography I have been primarily engaged in since getting back into it over the last two years. I just know it hasn’t been landscapes and scenic photography. Indeed, I have not been trying to make images that are overtly beautiful or aesthetically pleasing at all.
Yet, there is something irresistible about nature. Often, it is awe-inspiring. And as we all know, sensations of pleasure, well-being, and the loss of self in the one-ness of the creation often lead to addiction. Gotta get that fix again and again. That leads to wanting it for oneself, even in a puny way like making a picture of it.
That’s not to denigrate scenic photography. I find a lot of it pretty wonderful. I just also see the production of it as beyond my ken–not to mention my lacking the wherewithal to afford the gear and the travel to seriously pursue and produce beautiful scenic photography.
All that said, I’ve had fun working with some shots of San Francisco Bay taken mostly as an afterthought–or just because I always have my camera with me, so why not? And the other night I was at a friend’s home that is on Albany Hill and overlooks almost the whole bay. After taking a couple shots from the deck, someone showed me the Richard Misrach book of the Golden Gate. It was inspiring. I came to see the intrinsic interest of a series of photographs of one thing taken over all the different conditions to which it may be subject. I think I may try my own little series from a given vantage point and see what happens. If only I could get a neon martini glass, or rusted car, or dead cow or something in there…
what hath flickr wrought?
Maverick Xpro, originally uploaded by neocles.
My photographer friend, Joe, who himself pulled a Houdini on a substantial flickr presence, IM’d a link to me today. It is to Tim Connor’s blog post about a New York Times article about flickr and the rise of a flickr style of photography. I found it very interesting and cause for reflection about what I think I am doing with with the creative impulse, photography, and flickr. I don’t have any answers to that rumination just yet. But I did notice that telephony is not yet one of the technologies by which this came to you. So far, it’s newspaper, blog, IM, blog. If only I could have twittered in to your wireless refrigerator or toaster oven. Or something.
In any case, let me know how you think my stuff like the shot above fits in to the “style” described, or not.
shorTCar
Last evening I attended for the first time the sf flickr group meeting. It was really nice to meet everyone and have a chance to shoot at the Palace of Fine Arts as the sun went down. A quick review of the download didn’t reveal any particularly great photos. Perhaps with some post-processing, something interesting will come into view.
One of the interesting things that happened was there there was a person their interviewing folks for a magazine story about flickr and the digital revolution in photography. I was so amped up from driving like a maniac to get there on time that I ran my mouth off about this, that, and the other thing. Talking about it did help to clarify some of my thoughts about more about what I think I am doing with photography. [I’ll talk more about that in this space later.]
In any case, after walking around the POF for awhile we retired to the Grove Cafe (?) for food, drink, and conversation. A great group of people and all around good time.
neo
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