Pandora's Promise

The trailer for Pandora's Promise starts off briefly mentioning the names of our most infamous, peace time, nuclear catastrophes: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima. It sounds like yet another hard hitting expose of our dreaded "Friendly Atom." Midway through however, it injects the argument(s) favored by pro nuclear, "pro environmental" advocates (insert sarcastic oxymoron jokes here). They point out that we cannot continue our current (let alone increased) power consumption without incorporating nuclear into the mix on a large scale, global basis- not to do so they warn, will result in unprecedented global warming. What they don't tell you, won't tell you, is that it's a short term, short sighted fix that will poison our planet for millenia to come. And, of course, what they will tell you is that it can now be done in a safer, cleaner and more efficient manner... Bull, bull, and bull. The same decades old promises (of a broken, failed industry) spilling from the mouths of brand spanking new converts.

No matter how you color, dress and disguise it, nuclear power is the deadly poison that keeps on poisoning en masse for untold hundreds of years to come. And nuclear power plants no matter how brand spanking new and efficient are still vulnerable to catastrophes of biblical proportions due to human error, terrorism and natural calamities; and to this day we still have no safe method to store their deadly waste (again, deadly for centuries- now there's a slogan) or the needed areas "guaranteed" geologically sound for that required period of time. It's an industry essentially built on a house of cards from start to never ending finish with millions of lives at stake for thousands of years. Cool!!!

Basically, we've painted ourselves into a radioactive, smoked filled corner of our own making. The time to adequately prepare ourselves has long past, we should have been heavily investing into alternative R & D as our #1 priority since the '70s. But Grandpa Ronnie told us not to worry. And like the children that we are- we didn't.

And so here we sit in a brand new century, royally fucked with the worst yet to come- and we got warmed over shit served on a brand new platter for today's menu...

*Just a little something for all to ponder while I'm away (see yas full force come July- preposted a coupla things for the interim).

God Bless Edward Snowdon

"I had been looking for leaders, but I realised that leadership is about being the first to act."    

-- Edward Snowdon

He had it all. He could have easily kept his well paying job, his beautiful beyond words girl friend, and his successful lifestyle and career. No one ever threatened him, no one ever pressured him in the slightest, and there was certainly no prize to be had when all was said and done. He didn't have to do anything but continue living his rather fortunate life, unscathed and unconcerned- and yet act he did, and for the right reason... not that most people will ever give a flying fuck that he did it for them.

And now he must forever look behind his back for the remainder of his young life, looking back at a life that was once his.

"I will never feel safe," he said. "Things are very difficult for me in all terms, but speaking truth to power is never without risk."

Particularly when  hypocrisy in the realm of power knows no bounds...

La Rue- Sam Grant

There I was 10:30 sharp, waiting for the start of the nude bicycle race (well, more like bicycle ride); that's right, yet another opportunity for a plethora of photos featuring nude, sixty year old men- everyone's favorites! But after waiting a half hour with only one (zebra striped) participant in view, I took off on my bike (fully clothed). Went to South Park a quarter mile away, smoked a stogie, and went to Rayko Photo to see what's up on the walls. It's there that I spotted La Rue by Sam Grant (actually, Blake Andrews mentioned it while visiting recently- but I admittedly clean done forgot).

Photo: Sam Grant

It's quite small, and lovely, and something you just instantly want. The photos were taken with a cheap plastic camera, and unlike so much of the digital stuff out there today have a warmth, a personality, an endearing, charming quality that makes you want to return to them like the lovely little poems that they are! If only more people were as obsessed with taking photos worth remembering, as they were about pixels, noise and ISO...


Anyway, the stogie and La Rue made for one thoroughly enjoyable weekend respite, before I found myself returning to where I started- this time to find a sizable contingent of the aforementioned nude and wrinkled bodies. Was able to get in a few shots after all, but no doubt whose images had won the day, and for many a day thereafter...

Dirty Wars...

"The American Taliban- that is what we call the American soldiers with beards." 
--Afghan grandfather who had half his family killed (mistakenly) by American Special Ops

One has to wonder if the dozens, hundreds, thousands of new enemies we create every single time we kill innocent men, women and children all over the world is the real goal all along- a never ceasing supply of potential enemies the world over to feed the perpetual war machine ad infinitum!?!? An endless stream of money for the merchants of death- Gen. Smedley Butler's War Is A Racket on remote control steroids...

In The Interim....

Will be traveling to hometown NYC this 6/15 for ten days, so things will be kinda crickety the two weeks following... Time for the annual, obligatory sojourn to visit the folks (one already in, the other near their ninth decade). These days I get a kind of perverse kick visiting NY as a "tourist." Hopefully, catch a worthwhile show, and take a photo, or two. Will be traveling light with my FM3 w/20mm, and a Widelux F8 for laughs in my comfy new bag- and always up for a beer if you are...

Shadow Dancer

The film begins brilliantly with a reaction shot, a small girl's reaction to her brother dying before her. No explanation needed thereafter...

Despite the action montage of the trailer, the movie is actually quite low key but winds up as quickly as it begins. And in a manner both unsettling and unsuspected- not unlike The Troubles themselves...

So What's The Rush?

People act like all this radioactive shit leaking all over the place could get into their water supply or something!

"In all, since that very first leak in the 1950s, at least 69 tanks are known to have excreted more than 1 million gallons of waste — and possibly far more — into the soil."

The tanks create their own chemical environment. Between the heat and the radionuclides and the chemicals that are already in there, they're just their own nuclear reactors," Whalen said. "They're generating their own little world in there."

There now- ya see, things just have a way of... working their way out!

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

It was most refreshing to see a major photo blog mention, even in passing, the economics of present day photodom. No, not about how to save pennies on the latest, greatest software- but how the whole shebang we (somewhat) know and love has priced itself into the stratosphere. Forget about collecting prints, you're damn lucky if you can afford to make your own!

Museums cost $20, photographic paper costs more without silver than it did with. Work this one gig for free, and you're guaranteed more nonpaying jobs than your fastest burst rate will allow! Yes, you're in control... only you can choose between Canon or Nikon, Photoshop or Lightroom! New lenses, bodies, software, apps- ever forward... It's the digital age; if you can't take advantage of all the new and wondrous opportunities all around- you have no one to blame but yourself!

Of course, it's not just photography. When my parents first came to NYC in the early '50s, they had a host of unskilled jobs to choose from. No, they sure didn't pay much, but they kept you off the street- their first place of residence on mainland USA was in... SOHO- a $15 cold water flat that afforded them enough to save up for an apartment in Brooklyn. And work they did, every year's end my father also worked the PO for the Christmas rush. That was always the American dream- work your ass off and you'll survive, no matter who you are (and we'll even let ya pick up a couple of chachkas along the way). And if you had skills, an education- the whole damn oyster was yours!

Today, unskilled jobs that provide an actual living wage are as nostalgic a dream as the the sixties themselves. And a quality education will rocket you into fast debt and a guaranteed death race with the thousands of others competing for the same job. The middle class has been quietly killed off while we work harder, longer hours for less pay, less benefits and little hope of upward mobility. The fifties brought education and prosperity; and in turn, the sixties brought self awareness and a certain degree of enlightenment as to how things actually work- and the one percent has been reclaiming their sovereignty with every trick and low blow ever since. It's no longer about a successful working class, it's about a subservient and cheap labor class. Equality, shared responsibility and proportional rewards are for losers.

Ain't It The Truth...

The vast majority of people who love photography literally cannot afford buying a photograph and are reduced to, at best, looking at them as often bad reproductions in books.   -Jorg Colberg

Indeed, for a good portion of us- the irony extends to our own work...

Review And Renewal...

Photo: Garry Winogrand

Finally got to see the Winogrand exhibit just before the whole damn museum shut down. SFMOMA is now shut for three years, to renovate, expand and add ten floors of... luxury whatever- cause ya know whatever they're gonna add is gonna be luxury something. And it'll probably cost a cool $25 (way above my hourly wage) to get in once it reopens, and I just found out my rent went up $30- all of which doesn't jive with my recent 1% raise. But at least it was free last weekend.

The newly exhibited work concentrated particularly on early sixties, even fifties stuff and made for a very nostalgic, Mad Men kinda viewing experience. You could see all the greatness that was yet to come imbedded in those early photos, just as you could see the remaining shadows of what once was in his last work. The meat and potatoes being the old familiar hits one knows and loves.

Amazing to see everyone looking at little grey prints in a museum, no colossal wall sized anything to be seen anywhere, and they were, in fact, surprisingly... grey  (yes, like old friends at a reunion)- the majority of his prints being surprisingly lower in contrast than I remembered, despite having seen them on many an occasion prior. Anyway, what can I say that hasn't already, except that I do take exception to his being described as "the first digital photographer." As prodigious and prolific a shooter as he was, Winogrand never burdened the viewer with his outtakes and almosts- as do the digital dispensers of today. If anyone owns that title it would be Friedlander- most of whose books could well profit from a tighter edit.

Nikon And Canon To Cease Pro DSLR Production!?

The last few days has witnessed first the announcement of the end of professional photographers followed by the en masse redundancy of an entire photographic staff with yet more like actions likely to follow... So what, oh what, is to become of "professional level" camera equipment and $7,000 top of the line Canon and Nikon DSLR bodies? Why would they continue to pump money into pro level R&D and then build equipment for people that are no longer hired and no longer exist?

And will we soon have pro-level iPhones for "professional" unpaid citizen journalists, and low budget consumer models for the great unwashed?

Pioneer Camera Club

Noah Beil has started a photo book/discussion club here in San Francisco which is one pretty cool undertaking- good luck, and look forward to attending.  First event- 6/06!

"Because Canada Doesn't Want It..."

Their own environmental disaster of near biblical proportions that is...  Yes, sir! May I have another!?

Talent Translates...

My wife makes dioramas, and like I, when amidst the work of a master artist (in this case Mariko Kusumoto), is truly humbled by the totality of their art. And although usually not my cup of tea, even I can catch those vibes transferred to work such as this. One can really feel the love and finesse that went into every detail of their creation.  (And check out the Muybridge necklace!).

Some Day ...

"This is the same problem I have with digital photography. The potential is always remarkable. But the medium never settles. Each year there is a better camera to buy and new software to download. The user never has time to become comfortable with the tool. Consequently too much of the work is merely about the technology. The HDR and QTVR fads are good examples. Instead of focusing on the subject, users obsess over RAW conversion, Photoshop plug-ins, and on and on. For good work to develop the technology needs to become as stable and functional as a typewriter."    -Alec Soth

I recently followed a link to a "Flickr alternative," the photographs were handsomely displayed, each flawlessly reproduced, brilliantly colorful and as sharp as one could ever possibly hope for... after a dozen or so, I was ready to barf. That's one of the things that turn me off about digital- a lot of the images are just too technically perfect, too precise, great when the images are outstanding, grandiose and overbearing when they are simply... routine. Being able to see every pore in a mediocre portrait neither betters the picture, nor enhances the experience- and I'm not even talking HDR. If anything proves, "Beware what you wish for," it's the very quality now available with digital. Unknowingly, I was as much attracted to the subtle flaws and limitations of film, as the quality I always struggled to attain from that fragile, stamp sized 35mm rectangle.

Make no doubt, there are times I do envy the flexibility, and quality, digital now offers. And someday I'll probably take the plunge- if only so I don't have to deal with the butt breaking inconvenience of digitizing silver negs into an exhibition quality file (no, you're not getting me in no darkroom ever again unless someone is crazy enough to pay me). Still, I remain in no rush mode.

Someday, my digital camera will probably come to be- and I'll know it when I see it. They're getting closer ever day. Love that Fujifilm x100, it has the tactile, classic good looks and handling I desire, but it doesn't go wide enough for me; and even though its bigger brother has a real wide angle zoom, I really prefer smaller primes. Few, if any, mirrorless cameras have real WA primes yet; I could settle for a 28mm equivalent lens- but only on a 3:4 ratio sensor, as opposed to 2:3. Yeah, I'm talking my needs- not yours. And though anything's possible, I really don't see one of those bulbous DSLR's in my future- unless, of course, someone has the design smarts to strip one down into an elegant, compact, FF package (that's a wait).

The other thing that still gives me pause about digital- the way it looks in B&W, what I primarily shoot. It's most definitely grainless (good, right?), but it also has an "artificial," sanitized look that seems to  lack "depth" and often leaves me cold. I guess that's what a Tri-X "filter" is for- how genuine and original is that? Anyway, the day will probably come, and I can most definitely wait...

Scary...

Very scary when an absolute son of a bitch like Putin comes out in favor of transparency, in favor of exposing a life threatening practice that the US (ie- Obama) silently condones, and that has the power to so negatively affect the health and lives of not just its own citizens- but of people worldwide.

And not a blink from major media...

Sometimes Ya Win, Sometimes Ya...

Mt. Rushmore- S. Banos

As a photographer, whenever you arrive somewhere of special significance, somewhere you've always dreamed of seeing- you, of course, want to get a picture to remember it by. Not just a picture- hell, you can get any number of perfectly good picture postcards anywhere, but one you can actually stick in the ol' portfolio. Something halfway unique, something that puts your particular stamp on it. Sometimes you win, and sometimes, well... ya just don't. Of course, having enough time (a luxury most of us don't get) increases your chances. That said, I've been to Paris a few times and have yet to get a decent shot that includes Le Tour Eiffel- sometimes it's just a matter of turning around for something else, or trying your luck elsewhere.

Mt. Rushmore is one of those places one dreams of seeing ever since you're a kid- something wonderfully surreal about it even before you're old enough to know the meaning of the word. Hitchcock shot a movie there as if just to prove it. So naturally, when I finally got to see it in person in '07, I was hot to take the picture to remember it by. First instinct was to go right into the viewing area along with the rest of my fellow tourists and take some Winogrand/Parr mutation with them in the foreground in some weird juxtaposition with the overbearingly large Presidential stares looming in the background. And again, given enough time, I probably could have done just that, but the fish just weren't biting, and alas, I didn't have all day. Next, I discovered there were trails leading closer to the giant busts where guides were leading tours which definitely offered some possibilities- but again, to no avail. It was time to go, and once again I was a beaten man. Time to hit the road again, but first the lieu... and a photo!

Loyalty Goes One Way...

And it happens every war- every time.
Also- see here...

Two Sides To Every Story

They say there are two sides to every story, and nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to the "Official" law enforcement version vs those on the other side- particularly when the other side involves people of color. Now I'm not stating that either side is always right, but it comes as little surprise that the version propagated by the suits is the one that usually gets the most, if not automatic, credence- despite the somewhat "checkered" tradition of subterfuge, deceit and outright... lawlessness (the very evils they supposedly work to sublimate).

Read the official version of Joanne Chesimard and you get the picture of a wanton, rabid, killer extraordinaire. Listen to the version given by Assata Shakur herself and the picture is decidedly different. Some might say that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, that where there's smoke there's fire- but as I have more than once found out in life, that "common sense" approach doesn't always apply. Sometimes (sometimes), things really are- black and white...

Congratulations Seattle!

For refusing to sell out, dumb down and corporatize your children- if only the rest of the country would take note..

Quote Of The...

Will Leica return to primarily making gear for “normal” photographers or will you cater even more to the tastes of “oligarchs, gas barons, nabobs and nouveau-riche chinese”?