kodiakxyza

[kodiakxyza]

maraishenge

this was an unexpected view, in that I was distracted by the usual enjoyment of the sun coming into this street (as well as others) in a Stone Henge effect. that is, some kind of alignment with the street to make one feel connected and enjoy it. one thing about old architecture that I can forget in the midst of admiring modern ones, is that there can be long walls of simple relief, and in this case a lamp, which can have a special look during the "magic hour" (or however long) of the alignment. the allure of an interesting chiaroscuro is there, as there is such a high contrast already in place. not sure I will find other, as interesting, locations/walls, but this one will certainly make me alert.

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gaps

as complement to the entry « Shadows », there is another aspect of most restaurants here — that is, good restaurants but not in the sense of Michelin-rated haut cuisine, where the tables are fairly close together in contrast to what is often seen, or considered, comfortable in most cities. Yogi Berra's quip that "it is so crowded, no one goes there anymore" would suit this kind of place, with barely a gap between tables in the entire restuarant. yet, for me, there is great allure to such arrangements, whereby one can sense the enthusiasm of lunch, not to complete a routine of necessity, or seek refuge from work, but to immerse into the life of others. even the body language is quite different as people will comfortably contort their bodies to better engage with their company. the major, subjective, impression is that sitting so close to other parties doing the same, is that there is a bit of acknowledgment that there are others nearby: it is a clan of strangers having lunch, and not about seemingly providing a (false?) sense of privacy by ignoring the other parties.

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palais

Christmas Day is rather quiet, everywhere. I noticed that it was actually most quiet on the evening of the 24th, than on the day: the amount of places open is a very good indicator. yet, going to the park for those that are still in city is not unusual: both locals and visitors/tourists. in knowing that it was to be quiet, and a nice overcast day, going to Tuileries was a good start. what surprised me was that I ended up at Palais Royal.  on my first visits, I sought some quiet and reflecting-on-life moments at this small park, where most people are distracted by the famous columns, and the park can be mostly a transit to walk through. the photo posted is a bit of a full circle, where I soon transitioned to going to the grand Le Jardin du Luxembourg park, and photographically grew enamored with taking photos at the parks, and nothing more focused than the tree "hedges" that are so carefully manicured and maintained. this photo feels as a way to look at the Palais Royal in the same way, though much more limited, still has its quiet charm.

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shadows

in the book In Praise of Shadows, Junichiro Tanizaki principally laments the increased lighting that is brought on by progress in early 20th Century Japan, compounded by the aim by restaurant to please foreigners growing accustomed to brighter restaurants/bars. there is something about the shadows not being revealed, or perhaps just-so revealed, in such a way that makes familiar objects and scenes be appreciated at anew. in many ways, the "city of lights" offers such a view of the street scenes in serendipitous ways by the placement of lamps. still, many locations can offer this counter to even brighter modern, or "hip", restaurants in San Francisco (for instance) where there are no shadows to give an ambiance: everything is to be seen, or at worst, flaunted. photography has followed suit with a bright-no-shadows approach that can be seen in many settings-photography for restaurants and cafes, akin the look promoted by Kinfolk magazine. (a snarky Tumblr shows this take on presentation: The Kinspiracy. )

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snowflakes

it may be said that we are unique like snowflakes — which turns out to not be quite unique, and very fractal — and that is sensible to approach other people as unique, in that being much better than an approach based on stereotype. however, the surroundings and situations would say that it is all too familiar, and consequently, the snowflake is going to trigger some memories in my past. that was the experience in visiting this couple from Serbia and Croatia (though 50+ years ago, when they left for France), I was transported in spirit of conversation and atmosphere — its essence, not its particulars — to when I was a kid and visiting relatives in the countryside. and therein lies one of the magics of multiculturalism: triggering a childhood memory from the yet-to-be-known people of other culture that have a big overlap, even with a very insular culture.

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voges

a feature of cities are to be lots of small parks to rest between errands, instead of a planned trup (like to Central Park). Place des Voges is such a landmark, but unassuming enough to make it a great resting place to then walk some more. peacefulness does come in little spurts, like the moment above. I feel a series of such moments in months to come. 

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smooth

Hiroshi Sugimoto took a very philosophical and strict approach to architectural photos with his celebrated "2x infinity" blurring of buildings. while blurring approaches work nicely with Frank Ghery's late work,they also welcome other photographic approaches: ones that are transformative and complimentary. this mobile photo seeks to do some of that, as a study, to work with the shapes — noted as a friend as "sensual" — while the penalty may be to "blur" the perception of a more classical architectural photo aspiring for reportage or recording, which also has a purpose.  

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hurrah

one "last"  swing through the Salton Sea. it's a magical place, and nothing best than the cathedral of the three trees at the Red Hill Marina. made it before sunset, but once the sun was below the mountains. magical as always. 

[kodiakxyza]

invariance

invariably, at some level of detail, there is not much that makes a location different from another, that is, until the person(s) give it a personal touch. this is one of the aspect that has such an appeal about André Kertész's The Polaroids book: a personalization of/within his apartment that made it be anywhere, but singularly his at the same time. in some ways, this inspired me tostart an easy-go project that would be as limited, that is, to photograph things at home (and that of friends) which revealed a sort of Kerteszian flavor in the photograph: a personalization of something otherwise quotidian, or even mundane to most people. (to help with some sharing-but-not-really-into-the-interactive, a non-social & low-key instagram and tumblr were created.) the unexpected turn is that in visiting many places and experiencing friends places, that the idea came to be that, perhaps, one way approach city photography is to kind-of ignore the way that we are taught to see it to obviously declare its location, but rather, go after a larger-scale Kerteszian approach. perhaps this is the terrain of someone like Saul Leiter, or even as far back as Brassaï, though perhaps with greater severity — or anonymity. can't say that it easily works, or will it save the "lack of inspiration from San Francisco" (noted in the previous two posts). until then, I liked this accidental find in San Francisco.

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irony

we all have done it: visit a "themed" location, and in this case, it is pretty cool how they have taken the atmosphere of a Parisian brasserie. yet, photographically speaking, I have been in a kind of not-inspired-locally for quite a long time. yet, this scene presented itself to recall a location that I have felt have been more photographically (and writing-wise) inspirational. this was not the case at all before, where Paris was a kind of « Gordian Knot » photographically for many years, in the same way that SF has felt in recent years. in part, the changes currently undergoing at SF have some factor in the blocking of all photographic interest, but there could be other factors similar to Paris, such as it has been over-exposed. so then, it is a matter of finding a new angle to be able to see what one wants to see photographically, and be allured to photograph it.

[kodiakxyza]

lamentations

in walking by the intersection of California and Powell, I remembered what perhaps was the most interesting photo I took of San Francisco: it was a car, of the right color at the right time, with the right street setting. this was 2007, I think. photos are not about "the best", but more about how they work together in the way we see them, and the realization is that the best work in San Francisco has been portraits, and mainly inside. photographing the city has not worked out well for me, in the way that I see other people approach it: I just can't see it. I did have a similar block about other cities, so I expected that it was a matter of time, but rather, it is also apt to recognize that, photographically, I am not going to see much in San Francisco to make me enthusiastic about carrying the cameras at all times, I have done over the last 5 years. one cannot be greedy and see fantastic scenes — not so-called « Street Photography » — at every location. it is the way things are, and other things must be enjoyed, like the brief instance of vintage cars for a day outside the apartment building.

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WongKarWai—esque

along the lines of the previous post about painting and photography, there's the complexity in films vs stills. if a photo is 1000 words, then the arithmetic for words in a film sequences is no comparison. many directors have the ability to omit dialogue and provide a short scene with an immense emotional connection for the viewer. Wong Kar-Wai (Chunking Express, In The Mood for Love, 2046, etc.) excels at that, as well as Béla Tarr (The Turin Horse) , and let the viewer dive into their own projection of the scene. a kind of "look at this", rather "you idiot, let me tell you all that's happening." (of course, much of the same has been a language of painting since abstraction was pursued.). with photographs, it is easier to catch unscripted moments, such as the sublime work of Saul Leiter. these moments are also now much more facile to record, up close, with the mobile phone, and perhaps lament the "small size and light range limitations " of cameras in phones. Wong Kar-Wai excels with such close ups, and perhaps now we can take a similar language with photographs.

[kodiakxyza]

Magritte-esque

while photography may have had a linking to painting through most of its life, some paintings, lie those of Magritte, are difficult to replicate from a natural view. yet, I could not think but of a reminder of him from this extemporaneous scene in front of me: provided the trees would turn up once seen.  

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digitalization

thus far, it can be argued that digital photography has been about aping analog photography. that is, the change to digital photography is mainly informed by analog cameras, and darkroom printing. this is not surprising, as new technology is welcomed to replace an old one. true digital photographs — as in taking advantage artistically, of the medium is not quite here yet. however, the (high-performance) hardware side has been more concerned with outperforming film, but the "form-factor" has remained the same: an SLR/mirrorless body. this despite the evidence that most people like the software side of processing a photo to happen on a mobile platform. Sony's QX was an early attempt at bridging high-performance with the mobile platform, but it has not been until the Olympus Air A01 that I have managed to be enticed to try it. while having some flaws still, the marriage of the available processing speed on mobile device and Olympus' approach seem to be a first step into thinking about digital photography as not just aping film cameras. a time when "mobile photography" does not mean using the mobile platform's camera is at hand, and that is great. 

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fortunes

among the ways to read one's fortunes, and not available in the newspaper, there is the reading of a coffee cup. to be precise, around 5.37am one gets up and makes a very strong espresso and drinks from a normal cup. the remnants of the coffee are swirled and quickly turned over to dry over the gas stove. as the drops settle around the rim, the "fortune" is read by someone in the know. perhaps in the intervening time since I witness such things in the Dominican Republic, now there is small shops dedicated to it, co-located with palm readings. no such procedures were followed as described, but as conversations at cafes (or over some coffee consumption) are increasing, there is one reading apparent from the coffee cup: the conversation was long, vivid, and a kind of rapid exchange (judging by the number of "rings" at the cup's top noting a slow consumption) — perhaps with Proustian overtones, though one party to the conversation was notably lacking in Proust-matters despite a Spanish translation copy acquired 10 years ago. in all fairness to those that can divine fortunes from coffee cups: it is a bit rigged when the coffee drinker is to also read the fortune to something already witnessed (by the coffee drinker and fortune reader). confusing, no? however, as the Danish proverb goes, to paraphrase: « it is difficult to make predictions, especially about the past ».

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estero

it had been a while since a road trip to get to the coast, in particular to Jenner, and finishing at "the golden hour" at Drake's Estero for a final go at some photos before getting rid of a camera system that's hard for me to use.  

[kodiakxyza]

estero

it had been a while since a road trip to get to the coast, in particular to Jenner, and finishing at "the golden hour" at Drake's Estero for a final go at some photos before getting rid of a camera system that's hard for me to use.