East Bay Holds Facists At Bay

Fascists, White Supremacists and The Alt Right pulled a massive No Show in San Francisco and were literally run out of town in Berkeley this weekend. Score a one-two for the good guys...

Photo: © S. Banos

Photo: © S. Banos

Photo: © S. Banos

Photo: © S. Banos

Photo: © S. Banos

Busy Weekend!

Friday, saw a rather curious (and brilliant) little movie (which I probably would've skipped if it wasn't for The Wife's urging) called Ingrid Goes West, which is equal parts: comedy, satire and biting social commentary. Timely, spot on, often funny, and surprisingly humanistic- a modern day look at modern day social media addiction...

Saturday, the Alt Right abandoned their much publicized "Patriot Prayer Rally" in San Francisco, opted for a relocated "Press Conference" in Alamo Square Park (mere blocks from where I live) and pulled a no show there as well- although many an everyday San Franciscan did manage to turn out.

Later that day, I actually made it to "The Fight" (I sure  wasn't gonna lay down no $100 to watch, but for forty at the local bar...). I didn't have a dog in this fight, both are great fighters at what they do; but I'm not a particular fan of either and McGregor (despite predictions) managed a fairly impressive showing- whenever "the experts" got it all laid out, it's usually sure not to go that way. Somewhat stiff at the start, it was still his footwork that was making Mayweather look awkward in the early rounds. Effectively changing his stance and counter punching, it actually almost started looking kinda iffy for Floyd. But the long and torturous length of a championship boxing match caught up with McGregor (big difference between 5 and 12 rounds) and he simply ran outta gas... Mayweather pummeled him in the 10th before it was stopped. It wasn't so much fighting styles that determined the fight, as it was stamina and conditioning. All said, McGregor made quite the decent showing- he might be (definitely is) one crazy fuck, but he's a smart fighter too- ya don't get to be a Champ in your league if you ain't. 

Sunday, it was off across the Bay to Berkeley for an even larger rally where the occasional Nazi/Alt-Right/White-Supremacist/Trump-Supporter could, in fact, be seen scurrying either this way or that with a crowd of black clad Antifa in avid pursuit. Yours truly would enthusiastically retreat in the opposite direction whenever I saw anyone approaching at speed- I got a vacation coming next week.

PS- And that said- please keep the people of Texas in your thoughts...

Empire of Diminished Returns...

(via TYWKIWDBI)

It's curious (least to me) as to what catches the public's attention, particularly when it comes to one Donald J. Trump. Seems more and more people are finally starting to realize that there really is no there... there! And I find it especially curious since it was so blatantly obvious the moment this man first opened his mouth- particularly since I hardly consider myself the intellectual powerhouse. This was and has always been, a simple matter of common sense- all one had to do was listen... He laid it all out plain as day from the get-go, the inexcusably little there was. Lie, Excuse, Blame- Repeat... LOUDER! Let the hate, blame and book burning go far and wide- this was a blatant, all out calling to the least common denominator, the lowest of the low. The very epitome (and confirmation) of half a century of purposely dumbing down America!  And if the malformed, intellectually deficient, verbal histrionics weren't enough- the optics of an elderly man smirking, mocking and pantomiming his displeasure at enemies, both perceived and well earned, should have convinced anyone and everyone that the very thought of this overweight and overwrought Il Duce stunt double becoming POTUS should have been grounds for insanity for whoever foolish enough to consider it. I'm not even gonna get into the blatant racism that he doesn't even pretend to deny or disguise.

So, it's indeed interesting to finally hear the chorus of disbelief and objection suddenly rising! Hopefully, by this time next year- this particular nightmare will be over, and Donald J. Trump will have excused his way out of that dump of a White House after all the money, skulduggery and dirty dealings with Putin's Russia have been revealed and rendered irrefutable. And I'm gonna get good and drunk on that day, and revel in the street to my heart's content- cause next day I'm gonna have one helluva Pencian hangover! And all America (and its worldly backyard) can, once again breathe a little easier knowing full well that the usual bigoted, short sighted, profit before all else brand of Republican (sans the overt psychosis) is back in the saddle once again...

The Streets Of San Francisco

Sometimes, I try and tell people how bad the homeless situation's here in San Francisco and I kind of get the feeling that they think I'm... exaggerating. This is particularly true of friends I know who lived in pre-gentrified New York, when President Ford told New York to drop dead. We had all noticed the ever increasing numbers of: beggars, bums, bag ladies and run aways, those that would collectively come to be known as the "homeless," throughout the city streets- hell, not a helluva lot we hadn't seen. 

But big money came in, and NY being as big as it is, managed to scatter the homeless about so they didn't clutter and collect too much in any one place at any one time. San Francisco doesn't have that luxury of deceit, it doesn't have four other boroughs to send them packing to; in fact, some adjoining cities make it a point to send their homeless here with a free one way bus ticket in hand. So when visitors do come here, and feel the filth sticking to their shoes, smell the stench and see the squalor of the streets downtown, the blatant, mid day, hard drug usage, the tent cities that pop up wherever, whenever like a 24/7 whack a mole game set- many are indeed aghast to realize just how off the hook the whole problem really is. It was pretty damn bad when I got here turn of the century, and now with all the additional tech revenue and prolific building construction that's been pouring in and occurring all over the city- it's goddamn worse than ever! 

Photos: © S. Banos

I certainly don't enjoy taking pictures of it, no one enjoys photographing people when they're down. But you can't close your eyes to it, with or without your camera; many of us half paralyzed with the knowledge and fear that we are but a paycheck or two from sharing these very same streets. This is  a massive problem in need of a massive initiative of: therapy, programs, housing and employment. And all that's ever presented year after goddamn year, rich ass mayor after rich ass mayor, is a constant diet of band aids, promises and excuses...

Wind River

Quite simply, Wind river is one of the better movies I've seen in some while. Jeremy Renner excels when playing the reserved and introspective protagonist who rises to the occasion, and here, he's most effectively set against the quite beauty and ever present danger of the wilds of Wyoming- in particular, in the territory of the the modern day res. And all these factors play major, contradictory roles as they compete for some manner of meaningful coexistence: the magnificence of the wild, versus the wild extremes of mankind. The story is straightforward enough- who killed the woman in the middle of nowhere? But solving the mystery unravels a whole world of hurt involving personal relationships and the age old rivalries between peoples, authorities, and the very land that sustains and threatens them all. 

The movie moves methodically as histories and boundaries are introduced and alluded to, a lingering threat always within reach, like the wild animals that still roam about. And just when one thinks they have the ebb and flow of the narrative figured... all hell breaks out in a shoot out that makes Reservoir Dogs look so utterly contrived, you're left wondering how such tranquil beauty can exist there at all!

Walking out, my wife turned to me and remarked how she's getting tired of having White men always save the day on screen, I remarked that at least in this one, their complicity was not... whitewashed. Or as Renner's character remarked, "Quiet and emptiness is all we've left them, and you even want to take that away."

The ending credits also alludes to the wave of disappeared and murdered Native American women that continues unabated throughout North America... 

On White Privilege

Please note: the following is written in the hope of furthering dialogue and understanding, and should be read and understood in said manner...

  (You may want to skip to 1:15 on the video).

Yes, life is hard enough. It beats you down each and every day- and when least expected, just for good measure! No doubt, some have it easier than others; no doubt, no one escapes unscathed... not-a-one, anywhere.

And this is why some people (ie- Whites) have such a problem with the very concept of... White Privilege. And they'll be more than happy to tell you that they never got any privilege for being White long as they can remember. They got ridiculed, lied to, beat down and swindled same as anyone- regardless of race, creed or color. So where's the privilege in that?

And they're all good points- each and every one. The thing about White Privilege though is that it's not about all the indignities that everyone has to suffer through and experience in life- it's about the realm of degrading and often humiliating add-ons they don't know about or refuse to acknowledge, and don't have to experience.

Whites are justifiably proud when they have succeeded economically after having started with nothing- The American Dream! But they can quickly turn indignant should one mention that a person of Color who achieved the same also had to endure the additional prejudicial battles securing: housing, education, loans and other financial musts under conditions that Whites would never encounter or be subject to. Nothing enrages a White person more than suggesting that they had it easier on the ground floor than you- that you had to work twice as hard, struggle twice as hard, sweat twice as hard simply because of the color of your skin or the accent of your English. That is anathema to White ears, it undermines their paradigm of self serving beliefs; instead of just giving that person their due props, some will insist their success came about from monies and all manner of assistance from some "government program," some hand out, some entitlement- never by the sweat of their brow or... use of their intellect. And the fact that they were raised in neighborhoods that were red lined with the worst: schools, nutrition, medical care, economic opportunities, etc, etc never, ever comes into play. Many Whites unconsciously assume we all start on a level playing field- and do we really have to get into which group gets the severest penalties for the same exact crime (or gets shot for trying to show their... license)? Mention any obstacle you have to overcome solely because of prejudice, and you have more than crossed the line- you are now playing the dreaded, indefensible, and totally unforgivable... "race card!"

As one person of Color remarked, "Everyday I have to think about race." And that's because whenever we're slighted or wronged, we have the additional task of considering if that particular rebuke or mistreatment occurred not because we erred as a human being- but because of a knee jerk, egregious reaction to our color or accent. We have to experience a White world simply to work and live our lives, Whites rarely have to live in or even experience our segment of reality.

I could go on and on and on with more and more examples, but that is only likely to stir up more anger, denial and resentment, within certain factions. So the video cuts to the chase, and serves a very simple purpose... Because even the most truly hardened and prejudicial of people have to admit in their heart of hearts that had President Obama said half of what Trump has said (particularly that little ol' "pussy" thang), the (White) hordes would have descended en force, torches alight and pitch forks gleaming on that (dump of a) White House lawn, screaming with veins a popping in their necks to bring him on out so they could lynch that uppity, no good n.....

But the point is, they don't have to admit it, not to anyone, not ever- not even to themselves; and that, in a nutshell, is the very essence of... White Privilege.

Late On Arrival...

Photo: © S. Banos

Recently, I edited 11 digital color keepers in the period of one week after a Sunday shoot (yes, I do have a F/T job) with time to spare. It took me one week of post for this one hi-res B&W analog photo- some six or so years after the fact. 'Nuff said...

Trump's Lies...

As Trump's base rabidly applauds every fateful step that plunges us further into his arrogance based ignorance, it's at least somewhat comforting to know that some manner of reality based "Truth to Power" continues to persist...

Fate, Luck & Happenstance

Maybe half of the four of you who read this blog remember I had a Fujifilm XT-1 two years back, and quickly sold it after I realized that the EVF sucked, the B&W was less than what I had imagined, and that it would not, in fact, be my do everything, be everything camera of the future (yeah, you'd think I'd know better)... 

So why, oh why, did I go out and buy another? Well, I'm actually quite glad I sold the first- it allowed me to go hog wild and experiment with a Ricoh GR a year later, which opened an entirely new window of opportunities in: what I shoot, how I shoot, even when I shoot. Now, I don't mind EVF's or LCD's or whatever manner of shitty, digital viewing device- long as the end results are sound. I've learned to sacrifice process for result. And I'm no longer thinking strictly B&W, which when lovingly and properly accounted for takes hours days in post. I now have more years behind me than ahead, already have more than enough B&W files yet to edit, and color post can be done in less than an hour. The latter is freaking... amazing! I haven't given up on B&W (analog, or digital, for that matter), but so far, color's been a kick- a nice change of pace I can live with after 40yrs of strict monochrome. 

Photo: © S. Banos

So when the XT-1 went on sale for $800- I was lucky to have the funds to grab one. Still the best looking digital camera ever made! Anywho, was putting it through the paces at the first of San Francisco's two annual Leather Fairs. And while it still delivers solid results, there were two other things I noticed straight off. The cute as hell 28mm(e) lens is like a freakin' wet fish, in that it has nothing solid and static to grab on to when placing or removing it on the camera body- a true major pain in the ass when in the field covering a fast moving event. I longed for the solid, knurled metal ring on manual Nikkors- instead, I was reminded of the frustration of handling screw mount lenses when they would fail to catch and endlessly go round and round and...
  

Photo: © S. Banos

The second thing was the ease in which the shooting mode dial could be accidentally moved- that desperately needs to be locked in, just like the ISO dial! It is that major bit of a nuisance that led to a most interesting bit of a lark... Twice, the dial moved to Advanced Setting which (I later discovered) was factory set to the Toy Filter, which basically consists of a very warm filter in conjunction with some very serious vignetting. Yeah, it's a pretty severe look- not one you would involuntarily volunteer for. Now, the chance of it accidentally happening for the one shot it would be most suited for is crazy enough... the chance of it happening twice, on two separate occasions, for the exact two shots it was most suited for is... absolutely insane! But that's exactly what happened- and I've now used up whatever negligible amount of luck I may have had for the rest of my life. Case closed.

I did ease up on said Toy Filter effect in post for the final product, but you can still see the effect to considerable extent- and I must say it does lend a nice feel to these two particular images, serving to soften and isolate the main subjects from the environment at hand. Weird... just plain, all out, freakin' Weird!

Of Smiles And Mysteries

As I've previously and unequivocally stated, I can't stand pictures with smiling people. So as I peered through the microscopic rear view mirror of my GR as best my non existent, close up vision now possibly allows, and lined up the composition at the corners- I just prayed that everything else would magically fall into place- pretty much the usual formula I've been using for the last year and a half with fairly decent results, though certainly not one I would recommend.

And when I finally glanced upon the recorded image, I was pleased to see the composition sound... only there it was- the killer nail right smack front and center, a smiley face! Almost deleted it right there and then, but decided to save it if only as an aside- besides, a coupla beers awaited.*

Once home, I opened it anew, and there before me sat a man both regal and unbroken, a man who probably has more to complain about in one day than I do my whole life... and he's giving me, a total stranger standing in traffic and asking a favor, his unconditional approval- who am I to deny the world (t)his happy, triumphant moment in all its vibrancy?

Photo: © S. Banos

 
*As for the mystery as to why I've been getting as many shots recently on Fri early eves on my foray to and from the local pub- it finally struck me, not that hard to figure really... This 3 square block section of town in SF sees perhaps the widest gamut of socio-economic disparity imaginable in the western world at any given time on any given day. On Friday quitting time, it's as if they're all unleashed in one mad, mutual tsunami: the homeless trying (in vain) to hit up whoever catches their eye, junkies shooting up in plain view while others walk about alternately conversing, laughing, then arguing with... themselves- and The Hi-Tech Haves rush and zig-zag about in the most desperate dance of all, trying to board their Ubers before having to acknowledge any one of 'em; all this and more in the most dramatic Golden Hour light imaginable. So yeah, come to think of it, the time can be rife with possibility...