earlier this year i shot some photos for a musician out of San Francisco named Chi McClean. the concept was to do some natural shots of him in his environment, playing some music, in the studio, ambient shots, etc etc. the usual stuff. he's a very laid back fellow and we thought that should reflect in the photos. the album hasn't been released yet but here are some of my favorites from the shoot.
I also shot some images for The San Francisco Bay Guardian. They are publishing a special section called Explore SF which publishes May 28. It's technically May 27 but I doubt leaking images 8 hours before the issue hits the stand is going to be a problem, even though tons of people sit anxiously with baited breath to read this blog.
the first (and my favorite) neighborhood i shot was North Beach. North Beach can be a real CF sometimes with the tourists, traffic and general madness that surrounds outside dining. I shot at night originally but didn't make it there in time for "magic hour" as i had intended (i blame the MUNI). i returned one early morning at sunrise to find the blue and gold light washing cooly over the sleepy nearly vacant streets.
The shots from Hayes Valley and Nopa went well though I don't really think the later constitutes a neighborhood. NOPA stands for North Of The Panhandle. it's also a restaurant on the corner of Hayes and Divisadero that is technically north east of the Panhandle. This area used to be called the Western Addition or Upper Haight depending on your perspective and or race. The idea of naming every inch of our fair city and hotly debating the bounds of said neighborhoods is a favorite pastime of many residents here. personally it just pisses me off to no extent. NOPA is just new fodder to the fire, the neighborhood, not the restaurant which i've heard is quite nice.
the Inner Richmond is an interesting place. there is a lot of Asian restaurants, stores and fog (of course i thought dark brooding images of empty streets blanketed in fog would publish well. instead i went on one of the few days of cloudless days). a really solid bookstore is there, Green Apple Books, though i rarely frequent it as it's west of Stanyan and i have a disconnect with traveling west of Stanyan unless it's for several specific activities- the beach with Samson, the park with Megan or to traverse the Golden Gate Bridge on my way to Marin. none the less the neighborhood is quite popular despite my lack of enthusiasm.
I've also been busy shooting a series of photos for Catholic Charities CYO Camp. It's been a fun project with a great art director, Matt Viglione. We have had several shoots on the camp property and in Occidental, a mouse fart of a town in Sonoma county.
We're headed back in July for more so check back then for more updates. I'm headed to Kansas City tomorrow to attend a wedding. I hope to update this with more regularity in the future but can't promise anything as I just got confirmed for a large chunk of time at the studio and i have a show at My Trick Pony later this summer. i'll be drawing little monsters for their t-shirts in exchange for a gallery show with a month to hang my art on their walls. if you're in the city or want to be around August 2nd please let me know and come out to the show. it promises to be a good event with a large turnout (plus lots of the sauce to get the evening rolling...)
