Wings of Desire Redux

Well, I've yet to see the Gary Winogrand doc anywhere, but did get to see an old friend this weekend- and it's looking fine! Wim Wenders Wings of Desire got a multi year 4k restoration that brings this B&W (and color) masterwork back to its pristine origin. Hadn't seen it in some time (even forgot that Peter Falk was in it) and it was amazing to see Wall Era Berlin come to life again (they're back in vogue, ya know). It held up quite well, but also had a good laugh at the stereotypical complaint of how European "art" movies are always inundated with serious looking people talking pretentiously to themselves. I suppose the younger me found it a welcomed relief from the usual American car crashes, now I find both a tad tedious- not to take anything from it...

One of the things I so love about the flick (in addition to just plain looking at it) is that it is a contemplation, a celebration of those things small and ordinary in life, those things so often overlooked that make everyday life so worth living, and experiencing- some of the same things that certain people with light capturing devices try to highlight and share...

Otherwise, it can just be a matter of:

Photo: © Stan Banos

Photo Eye Daily

Photo: ©John Meyers

I've said it before- if ya don't subscribe to Photo Eye Photo Book Daily- you're really missing out on discovering some really great photographers- and the occasional good deal! For instance, never heard of either John Meyers or Lars Tunbjork- both formidable photographers, and a Bill Burke book for... $20- I'm in! 

Photo: © Lars Tunbjork

Mark Peterson- Eugene Smith Grant

Photo: © Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson's news images are quite noteworthy to be sure, what I find particularly "noteworthy" however are how Trump supporters' comments mock both the images and the award itself as yet another "liberal" hoax and attack on their cherished beliefs and... "freedoms." 

Meanwhile, with all the backlash against anything even remotely... "intellectual," I'm waiting for our first official book burning- I'm somewhat surprised it hasn't happened yet... perhaps we have the internet to thank.

It Just Never Stops... EVER!!!

Yeah, it's been going on for years, decades... longer than I've been alive. But then the frequency and frivolity really got outta hand until it's become almost (almost) "comical." White folk going completely outta their ever lovin' way to get in other people's (ie- those considerably darker) business for no real, rational, discernible reason. As if unjustified police shootings and racially biased voter suppression still isn't enough...

All 1- 2- 3- 4 of these racially biased latest examples happened within-a-period-of-a-week!

Yeah, Well...

Been saying it for years- Would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have Elizabeth Warren President of these Semi-United States! But unless she figures out a way to effectively counter, and get past our current POTUS and his juvenile name calling- she will continue to get pummeled long before she even enters the ring, to the extent that he won't even need the Electoral College to save his orange spray tanned ass.

Welcome to Empire 2020 folks- A land, a time when science, facts, and common sense no longer matter, that small maniacal slice of time when Ignorance x Arrogance rule supreme and herald the inevitable economic, societal and environmental collapse of most of what we once knew. All told, it was an interesting ride at that...

Work Worth Remembering...

Photo: © Joel Sartore

Photography- the instrument, the technology, the very essence of how we best capture the heart and soul of the moments we deem most worth remembering in our lives. Many photographers like to think that at least some of our photographs will be worth reflecting upon long after our departure from this fleeting mortal coil. Joel Sartore needn't ponder the inherent value of his work, despite the fact that its very size and scope borders on insanity.

In a future condemned to environmental collapse, his work will testify to all that we have lost, and all that we have caused to lose; each and every photograph of The Photo Ark a testament to what we were given, and what we sacrificed to our own greed, shortsightedness and stupidity...

AT THE FAIR!

Usually, I hate, Hate, HATE when someones mugs for the camera. But this guy brings a smile to my face every time. From the tip of his Super Hero mask and goggles (complete with nostril harness), to the wires that appear to run from small battery packs on either hip, right to the very base of his winky- and let's not forget those complementary matching doilies on either side! Not sure what the calligraphy signifies- but one BIG Thumbs Up!

HURRY! HURRY!! HURRY!!! That's right folks, years in the making; forget the rumors, threats and back door dealings- this is

 The Photo Event everyone's been waiting on...

OK, OK, so it's a goddang BLURB- how excited can one get? Yeah, it is, what it is. That said, I'm kinda thrilled to see just how well these guys stand up all assembled under the same roof! After repeated rejections over the years of trying to get any of 'em published, it's good to see that they most certainly... Represent! 

Granted, AT THE FAIR may not exactly be everyone's cup o' tea. But content matter aside, these images live up to the aesthetic considerations that go into any "good" or "serious" photograph- and humorous as some may well be (and I did tend to edit towards the lighter side), I think there's an obvious stretch of humanity that runs throughout the series. I'm neither Gay, nor into S&M- but if you can't step back and see just a wee bit of yourself in the continuing insanity that is the human race, you're either neck deep in denial or just not a very fun person to begin with...

Not sure what either of their super powers would be, but I'd definitely see the movie!  Photos: © Stan Banos

Good Thing Global Warming Is... A Hoax!

Or Michael could have been, like, ya know... BIG! 

Giant fucking freak storm after freak storm- but Repubs won't dare utter the words "Climate Change" even as their constituents float by on their furniture. And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. All the warning signs are going off big time all at once: ice caps melting at unprecedented levels, sea levels rising, oceans and atmosphere warming; aboriginal peoples all over the world, be they on ice, sand or jungle undergrowth all full well know it; we're diving head first, right smack into some serious world-wide catastrophic shit! And god help us all when it all hits the breaking point and we go into... free fall- cause Donny The "Self Made Billionaire" doesn't give a flying fucking shit cause he won't be around. Pretty fucking funny, huh?

Remember... The Future Is Fiber Optics?

We paid B-B-Billions for our fiber optic tech, it's in the ground (like right now), and it's lying pretty much dormant; even though it's the safest, fastest, most reliable and... cheapest way of transferring data for our telecommunications needs and devices. So why have we abandoned it in favor of tech which has already and yet to be proven carcinogenic tendencies?

Two weeks ago I didn't know what the hell 5G was, and just figured it the inevitable march of progress. One week later, I found out that at least some of what I had researched wasn't quite true- mainly cause the technology is so new and is just now in the process of being deployed (without the proper, needed testing)! Currently, my wife and I have started rallying the troops to fight a 5G transmitter which is slated to be located right outside our bedroom window, which will sautee us in high intensity microwave radiation 24/7. And I've already discovered that they hadn't notified anyone in our building about their intentions- a direct violation of the established legal protocol.

All the information you want to know (and more) about 5G is right here- and how to organize to defeat it in your neighborhood. Even more scientifically based info... Here!

At Least In Wrestling...

  The Bad Guy knows he's the Bad Guy, and everyone knows it's fixed.

So...

Halfway through the "Limited Investigation" (aka- The Blackout Sham), Kavanaugh or Ford have yet to be interrogated, the former has NOT been polygraphed, a whole host of witnesses have NOT been interviewed along with leads NOT followed, and turtle-man McConnell and Self-Made Billionaire Donald J. Trump certainly don't seem like they're breaking a sweat that "I fall asleep before I do anything stupid when drunk" Kavanaugh gets voted in at the end of the week. 

 

He lied about the emails, he lied about the yearbook, he lied about the "drinking games," lied about the drinking age, lied about "Blacking Out," lied about Ford's witnesses "refuting" all her allegations- and did so while soberly impersonating the nasty, vindictive drunk that he most certainly is. Why would anyone NOT believe him when he so vehemently denies an attempted rape allegation?

This is the man our POTUS and his Republican enablers have deemed...The Best of The BEST!!!

Dear BookWright...

 

Sorry guys- ya didn't make it, this cut.   Photo: © Stan Banos

I've begun putting together At The Fair- my photobook on the leather fairs in San Francisco. I'm happy to say that it's looking quite good! It's not that I ever doubted the photographs themselves, it's just that, well... after having them repeatedly rejected, over and over and over again- it was revelatory to see just how well they actually looked together! The book will be in two parts: eleven B&W photos followed by twenty one color. Yes, I think both mediums complement each other quite nicely; and why those particular numbers... why not? I could easily include more of each, or a more rounded number, or make it just color (of which I have more)- but this just seems to work nicely. 

Dealing with Blurb's bookmaking software called BookWright however has been a slightly different matter. Altogether, it's pretty damn decent... except that no matter what I've been able to do- I can't position each photograph in the exact same position on each page in a uniform manner! They're usually just a little bit... off! It hasn't seemed to matter all that much when I've gotten my previously made books in hand, but still- I don't think having a feature that can automatically lock equally sized images into the same position on successive pages is something so totally beyond today's digital realm. In fact, I would think it a necessity- it takes a helluva lot of needless time to try and center each and every one (they don't move about as seamlessly as one would hope using the margin rulers) on each and every page! 

So I sent an inquiry to Bookwright asking if I had missed something, done something wrong. No answer. So I sent another. No answer. So I was just about to send my congratulatory follow up below, when something called common sense whispered... not to, at least not until I finished, and had a copy or two. Cause something tells me, with my luck, that's the one they'd actually read, and actually respond to...

Dear BookWright,

Thank you for totally ignoring both of my inquiries regarding your book making software. With said track record, I know you won't mind my genuine non-gratitude in wishing you all to go FUCK URSELVES repeatedly, and since you'll no doubt ignore this as well (if anyone even takes the time to actually read any of these, so that they can, in fact, proceed to ignore them)... FUCK U again for good measure. 

Sincerely,

Stan Banos