Trapped in A Nightmare...

of other people's bad: tastes, lifestyles, music, fashion and just about everything else imaginable... I don't care how damn BIG the goddamn boat is, I'd want out ASAP (not that I'd ever pay for such a thing). I mean, just look at the damn thing, can it possibly get any gaudier- if Trump were a boat!?! Not only is it a floating environmental disaster, but from the host of animated videos depicting its sinking... guess I'm not the only one feeling it!

The Curse Of The Middle Class

The Zone of Interest is probably the most imaginative and utterly banal movie ever made. It follows an aspiring young couple and their family (did I mention their utterly lovely black pooch) as they strive to achieve and possibly surpass their destiny of middle class success. They have a small but comfortable home with a large backyard that also contains a: small pool, a vegetable/flower garden and a picnic area. They're a fairly contented lot, but as with any journey of success, there is always the free floating anxiety between doing even better, or having it all disappear...

Their yard is bordered by a rather obtrusive, oversized wall; behind said wall one can sometimes make out the occasional sounds of random gunshots and the harrowing screams of those either begging for their lives, or perhaps pleading for an end to them. And, of course, there's also the matter of those smokestacks further in the distance that never seem to stop, I'd guess one would want to take note which way the wind blows before setting out the laundry....

Hannibal Lecter's Coming!!!

After listening to Trump's speech when he says that Hannibal Lecter (several of them actually) is coming over our border (8:30) and that Nikki Haley was in charge of security on Jan. 6 (as if previously blaming Pelosi wasn't wrong enough), I certainly hope more of these of these are gonna happen--- in the U-S-A, U-S-A!

Biden may be senile (as if his opponent isn't), but Trump is proving himself more insane than ever! 

However... 

The more unhinged his claims, the more enthusiasm Trump garners from his supporters. Meanwhile, Dems continue to do a Ruth Bader Ginsburg- sleepwalking a soon to be departed candidate into oblivion. And no one on either side learns a lick... 

I laughed like hell the first time Trump won, it won't be funny this time 'round, ironically or otherwise.

Strangers Amongst Us

Photo: © Stan Banos

Past coupla years I've been going to this annual "Pro-Life" protest held in (of all places)... San Francisco. Yeah, I guess they know they can't get away with a Pro Trump rally here, so this is a pretty good thumb in the eye nonetheless, as they pull in on their chartered buses. I've said what I've had to say on this already: politically, morally, legally; it's one where there's truly no right or wrong, far as I'm concerned- exactly why it should be left to the determination of the person it concerns most.

Photographically, there's ample subject matter here- but I'm damn lucky if I can even get one keeper. They're definitely a different breed than the usual demonstrations I photograph (and personally relate to), and they present a much different visual style and context as well! One thing is that many of these people smile when you attempt a photograph, which instantly negates anything you attempt. I don't think my particular visual and photographic style jives with this crowd. Perhaps individual B&W portraits is more the order of the day here, although I have no real incentive or inspiration to do that at the moment- much as I had none to engage these good folk (I mean that earnestly) in conversation, as I had the previous year (perhaps it was the weather)...

Identity Crisis

There's not a lot I can say is uniquely my own- truly, uniquely, my own. At the very least- I had my name. Sure, my first name, though hardly popular (for good reason), is presumably still out there in various nooks and crannies- but together with the last, ain't no one, nowhere gonna have that combo! And then I ran into the guy below... Now, I full well understand that "Stanley" is of Polish origin, and it's odd enough that someone of Latino origin ended up with that first name- but how the hell did a Pole (from Poland!) of any time period end up with an Hispanic surname? Weird- very, very weird...

Bruce Haley- Winter

I previously wrote about Bruce Haley's Home Fires Vol.1 & 2, am a particularly big fan of Vol. 1 (which I find a bit 'edgier'), and am happy to say that they will one day both be well housed at the Tim Hetherington Photobook Library at the Bronx Documentary Center along with the rest of (what used to be) my photobook collection- I occasionally make mention of that, not to brag, but to inform others should they ever have need of a good home for their collection... 

Anyway, the following video accompanies his third book Winter, in what is now an ongoing series of what will be four books in total. And if it's anything like the previous two (and that certainly seems to be the fact), it's another well produced, well photographed, well worth getting edition.

Transition

Joseph Craanen, RIP

A few weeks ago 'round about Xmas, I found out a former client of mine was in hospital; a true gentle giant of a man, not a mean bone in his entire body, a body now wracked with cancer. Teachers and caretakers are quick to opine that it is we who learn from our students, our charge; it sounds incredibly high minded and altruistic (it's meant to), but truth be told- it's not quite always the case. I was taken aback when Joseph calmly stated that he knew he was dying, knew that nothing could be done, taken aback by the same amazing degree of grace and dignity I had seen him display throughout his life. You can't teach that to anyone, disabilities or not.

One day when I went to visit, he had been taken out for some tests, and not knowing what to do, I resorted to doing what I usually do in an area I'm not that familiar with, I went out and walked about the neighborhood. Excelsior is a working class neighborhood on the outer periphery of San Francisco. It's where I took the two snaps below, bodies in transition, as are we all...

Photos: © Stan Banos

American Exceptionalism

Like so many other things in life, you have to laugh- cause the alternative...

In this life, I've gone from disbelievingly ogling vintage B&W photos of circus fat men and women back in the day, to seeing their current, exceedingly more corpulent counterparts live and in person on every block of every town, city and hamlet in the US of A. The difference in sheer volume of everyday homo sapiens in America has exponentially grown and metamorphized into shapes and sizes I never thought humanly possible- as if the entire country was under the control of some mad, sinister scientific experiment gone horribly, terribly wrong. People literally gorging themselves into mutated forms and masses distended well beyond belief or ambulation!

And, of course, those corpulent masses of fat and morbidity are just reflections of the sickness within our one controlling organ that doesn't grow, and that has long ceased to function in any effective, meaningful manner. Something is terribly, terribly wrong in America, as it continues to metastasize well beyond it's ability to reflect, lead or even think rationally- if only to save itself, on an individual or social level. Our national obesity is but a reflection of our body politic- while some of us can no longer see our own feet, even more of us can no longer see beyond our own feelings, beyond our own misguided diet of delusional beliefs and self interests. We have become planets unto ourselves, in size and self importance, oblivious to the universe that engulfs us all. We have need of neither science nor history, no need of empathy, no need of rational, mutual interaction between individuals, peoples or the very earth that sustains us. We simply exist to grow larger, more full of ourselves each and every passing day lest anyone dare deny us all we want.

Photo: Arsal Aleem

PSSST... Wanna STOP Illegal Immigration?

I've often said that if ya wanna end illegal immigration- one doesn't need to build a single wall, just... Stop-hiring-them! Politicians are big on yelling about ILLEGALS and all the havoc they're causing- but mums the word when it comes to allowing them to work in their very own cities and states! Usually, these illegal immigrants can be found working for employers whose jobs are: too odious, too dangerous and too low paying to attract US citizens. If these politicos (usually located in Red states that complain about "illegals" the most) would properly regulate their businesses to enforce their own existing laws to not employ illegal aliens- the word would soon ring out that those jobs are no longer to be had in the USA. No one is gonna make what is often a life threatening journey just to get here if they have NO chance of employment. As long as you hire under the radar- come they will...

This problem has gotten so bad that they are even hiring children in everything from meat processing to car manufacturing plants. And some of these children have already been killed, injured or seriously maimed on the job! But don't we have child labor laws? That's what I thought too, but Iowa just passed a law that allows 14 yr olds to work F/T factory night shifts, while other states are considering much the same! 

This insanity is not unlike climate change- we know exactly what must be done for our own good, we just rather argue than actually fix it.

The Ghosts of Xmas Past!

1/01/2024    Photo: © Stan Banos

Every year at this time I get anxious- how long till I take the first keeper of the year? It's ridiculous, I know since it'll happen... when it happens, always does. But this year in particular, since downtown San Francisco is not coming back anytime soon; it will remain a ghost town for the foreseeable future- not a good omen for anyone who shoots on the street. 

So I was rather surprised, to say the least, coming upon these gentlemen yesterday upon the end of my daily constitutional who were kind enough to oblige in allowing me my first people shot in quite some time- and my first official keeper of the year. Will make a helluva Xmas card too!