Post Holiday Musings...

 Yet, another repeated "holdout" I finally nabbed during recent holiday (and consequently sucked of all life by Blogger software)...  
Photo: © Stan Banos

In addition to taking a couple of snaps during the Thanksgiving holiday, I was finally able to catch up on a few things (the rain helped) and even had a bit o' leisure time to myself. As a kid, I a had  a fascination with slot cars (HO and 1/24 scale), I even built one of the latter from scratch, even though I didn't have the proper tools- didn't win any prizes for speed or looks, but it ran alright. Then in the '90s, I noticed they opened a major track right in Manhattan; tempted as I was, I never visited- did not want to risk yet another addiction (repeat or otherwise). Don't recall how I stumbled unto this video- but my, how things have, uh... "progressed." They were pretty freaking fast in my day, but this-is-plain-clear- Insane!!! 

Another childhood preoccupation I imbibed was my utter fascination with... tanks! Several of these online videos put out by The Tank Museum feature these rather curiously unique personalities leading the tour of their personal faves- all of which, in turn, have their... various and very distinct personalities. 

On Monuments...

Well, it has to be more than just a silly ol' plaque- I know, let's put it inside this giant sized rock, and then, and then, put a statue right on top of it and, and a flagpole... on either side!!!

Upon first visiting Golden Gate Park back in 1989, I happened upon this rather curious, if not outright comical conglomeration of a monument right off the park's main drag located in this small, secluded, sunken meadow. For all it's tranquil, idyllic loveliness however, no one ever seems to venture into it. Of course, I had to have a look see, was humbly taken with the site and its forever young and noble resident, but could not get a decent angle to take a photo that I thought paid it justice. I've tried several times since in the intervening years, but always came up short, and pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it would forever remain one of those things that just had to be experienced, period. Fortunately, that all changed this past holiday weekend when we had a break in some desperately needed rain that finally quashed CA's biggest fire in history and scrubbed San Francsico's air clean, and the light really played to its favor (which Blogger software rather successfully flattens and obliterates).

A short walk away from that most curious of landmarks lies one that is... stranger still- an irregularly shaped monolith with hundreds of names carved into it dating back to WWI. This bizarrely shaped monument is also just off the main drag, but totally hidden in a forbiddingly dark thicket of trees. To this day I don't remember how I first came upon it. I've also been trying to get a decent shot of this most formidable "blob," and well, this too is perhaps the best I'll ever get. 

The latter was obviously a tribute to the area's fallen from WWI, but I purposely let the former doughboy monument (which looks like some kind of idealized elder boy scout) remain shrouded in mystery. Now that I've officially documented them, I did a little research- including brushing up on a very forgotten unknown piece of history post WWI.

Photos: © Stan Banos

Happy Thanksgiving...

 

Taken 2 weeks ago...

I suppose the fires that have engulfed CA this month have me reflecting on loss. People have lost their homes, their jobs, their lives; and in San Francisco, this city of new found technology, wealth and homelessness galore, on holidays as this when so many have left town to celebrate and reunite, the vacated streets are left to those who wander aimlessly about, having lost all semblance of who they once were and who they might still be...

Photos: © Stan Banos

And Speaking Of Goddamn Fuckin' IDIOTS...

Behold, a man so overwrought and consumed with empathy and emotion that he actually forgets the name of the town he came to visit, the name of the town he was just at not five minutes prior, the name of a town that was wiped clean from his thoughts faster than the very fire that consumed it...

Good Thing Climate Change Is... A "Hoax"

Photo: NASA

We've had our days of smoke in SF before, to be sure- but never this severe or prolonged in my years here. Ten days going on... and they say the the Camp Fire causing it won't be out till the end of... the month!

In the meantime, I've come down with a nasty cold and sore throat while becoming privy to the very latest in fashion concerning filter masks: round ones, square ones, pointed ones, bulbous ones, flat ones, designer ones (in leopard print no less)- even a futuristic looking metal device that only covered the nostrils. Somewhat post-apocalyptic when a quarter of the population in town go about their business wearing masks.

Kind of reminds me of the overall greyishness I encountered in Moscow, although the air here now is No Joke- no cigars for a while. And here I am whining, while those 144mi North have lost life and home...

3,400 MPH

Zen While It Lasts

Now, I'm not the type to incite or promote violence...

I have this little fantasy where I buy a Leica Q  (probably the sleekest, coolest, best looking digital camera made thus far). Light (actually, no, I held one- looks light, but it's a veritable brick in weight and feel) and portable, it's all I could ever need and use as I take it everywhere shooting only Leica worthy photos for the remainder of my life...

Actually, I'd be quite happy using one of those fellows, but...  I do need a 20mm~ when shooting events. And as far as spending $4,000+, well, that certainly ain't gonna happen. Fact is, I'm pretty happy with my GR and X-T1 (mated with a 28mm~, the latter looks pretty damn cool itself- even if the one on the GR is sharper), and I may upgrade in a few years, or not. Sure, the GR has always acted up a bit on the rare occasion (probably why I got it so damn cheap "as new" to begin with), and the the X-T1 does miss focus now and then, but truth is, I just don't shoot that much to warrant any immediate upgrade. And technically, I can't complain about 16in medium format quality prints from instruments that small and light, and (relatively) cheap!

After forty years of B&W... I'm quite happy with color, no regrets whatsoever. Limited as my shooting still is, it's way more keepers than before with my everyday GR and the option to go Square, not to mention, spending way less time in post- going back to actively shooting B+W film (still got quite the backlog) is nowhere on the radar, least not anytime soon. I'll always have fond memories and much respect, but truth is: it was much more labor intensive, and ultimately, more limiting creatively...

But, If you're gonna punch anyone...   Photos: © Stan Banos

Legacies...

Photo: © Vivian Maier

Waiting to see the new Buster Keaton doc, I chanced upon Vivian Maier: The Color Work at a local book store, expecting to see the usual hodgepodge collection capitalizing on a name. Boy, did I ever get that wrong. If anything, this book proves Maier's outright expanse of photographic genius- she was not only a superbly accomplished B&W photographer, she also had the refined chops and natural instinct to understand and successfully navigate the world of color whenever she so chose! These are not the results of occasional, haphazard experiments, they are proof positive of a firm grasp and mastery of the medium(s): square, monochromatic, or... otherwise. Those who'd continue to pooh-pooh this woman as some kind of idiot savant, second rate artist, only reveal the limits and inadequacies of their own prejudice.

Photography is the easiest art, which perhaps makes it the hardest. - Lisette Model.

A Touch Of Class...

 

Photo: © Stan Banos

Tinted windows- gotta admit, they always add that certain veneer of... class- do they not? Anyway, we had a record number of car break ins last year (most committed by organized "crews-" who knew?)- always thought they were just random crimes of convenience, but that really doesn't attest to the numbers, does it? Shattered car windows are just another common San Francisco sidewalk obstruction to avoid along with the: vomit, discarded needles and piles of human shit that abound. Step lively!

Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable

The one, the only, Gary Winogrand (with the picture sent from God).

I had pretty much given up on ever catching this, started to think I just dreamt it up- so I did quite the double take when I rechecked the week's meager movie offerings just before I was about to call it a wash. And there it was...

I'm old enough to have caught the master doing his little dance on 57st and 5th on a coupla occasions, methodically moving in and out of humanity's flow. And I've always found it a joy to view his photographs, masterful combinations of humor, subtlety and directness that they are. He brought the (street) game up a whole 'nother level- both in terms of quality and quantity. I had thought him rather coy and flippant when discussing photography, in retrospect, he strikes me as disarmingly honest, with a definitely unusual directness...

As for the film itself... can't say it was a great doc, or that I learned anything particularly insightful. They talked about his personal life, Women Are Beautiful and the latter years of shooting "blind" and at a distance, amongst other things. Perhaps I already know as much as I need- he took some really incredible photos... lot's of 'em!

Why?

Photo: © Stan Banos

Love this photo, personally idiosyncratic as it may be. The most desperate of people spilling out their most intimate of feelings in the city's most overlooked and unseen nooks and crannies. This one written out in... toothpaste? Who was the person who wrote it, who betrayed them, and... why?