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February 27, 2005

Flickr Aquired?

I'm late to this (again!) but my Flickr friend Kris Krug posted a little poll/ survey based on certain rumours that Flickr might be bought out by Yahoo!. I'm a huge fan of Flickr, but not to the extent that I've given much thought as to whether they might be acquired and what might happen if they were. I don't really follow the corporate rumour mills, prefering instead to devote my energies/ limited free time towards politics and art outside of work. Kris had quite a bunch of folks weigh in, though, and from the looks of the flurry of comments he's received, most folks seem to be split btw., prefering Google over Yahoo! or prefering Ludicorp to stay independent.

The bottomline for me -- I love Flickr right now -- its features, design, fun, clean and intuitive interface, its customer focus and responsiveness. Twould be a shame to have anything or anyone that would damage that (more likely Yahoo! than Google?, or even god forbid, MSN).

Posted by claudine at 12:50 AM | Comments (2)

February 23, 2005

Schadenfreude

Such an evil thing, but I took such a maliciously grim satisfaction in seeing in the parking lot at work this morning -- a green SUV (4runner) -- sporting that oval "W'04" sticker, a special interest CA license plate that read "we will never forget," and a huge, keyed scratch running the whole length of its gleaming right side.

Posted by claudine at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)

Paranoia

Graffwalks are funny things. I've gotten all sorts of reactions as I've tooled around, shooting street art... I often get a smile and a nod towards the piece -- sometimes a "great stuff, isn't it?" Other times I get offers to take my picture, or queries as to whether I want to take someone's picture. Once, as I was shooting this piece, someone asked me if I was a writer myself. Cops sometimes drive by, giving me looks I can't quite deciper, as do other passersby, especially if I'm shooting tags, stickers or simple 2-colour throwups. And I did get a mumble at one point -- something to the effect of, "yeah, cool stuff but you don't get to clean it up..."

Last Saturday I was on Market Street looking for a way into the yard above with a big Ribity multi-coloured piece -- one of the best productions I've seen yet. Steve tipped us off to it and Danny had run out to grab a capture that same day. I didn't get to it until Saturday, and it was grey and gloomy, and I thought I'd inquire at the Lucky 13 Bar next door to see if there was a way into the lot from the back of the bar. No dice. I loved the interior aesthetic within -- black walls covered with murals, grim kitschy skull tsotchkes, a great skylight pouring down a slender patch of light in the middle of the dark room... but the smell -- stale beer, sweat, stagnant, uncirculating air -- was almost more than I could bear. I asked the barkeep if he knew of a backway I could get to Ribity; he didn't, and I was back to peering at the piece from outside.

Market Street is a fairly busy street, and I was basically peering through some gaps into a boarded up lot, shooting first with my large 20D, and then with my smaller A80 for mobility (stronger zoom, capable of being wedged into smallish spaces...). Perhaps it was the rainy weather, perhaps that strip of Market isn't as busy as say, the Castro-Market intersection, but I didn't feel anything was amiss as I peered through the gaps and taking photographs.

And then someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to a face that looked remarkably like John Ashcroft's (kid you not!) to hear it intone, "Hey, Homeland Security's watching you..." Then just as rapidly that face smiled and quickly said, "just kidding," leaving me somewhat open-mouthed and askance...

And it was then that I began to feel a bit odd and self-conscious, the attention and comment from one person -- a joke at that -- enough to turn my self-confidence and comfort to embarrasment and guilt. Perhaps I'm a little too sensitive, but it was precisely that very feeling we ventured down to MUNI to counteract. There is nothing wrong with taking photographs, but somehow 9/11 has managed to turn well-meaning, average individuals into hyper-paranoid nervous wrecks. And when you put such individuals into positions of some authority, there is the potential of the infringement of civil liberties...

Since posting the MUNI photos, I received comments from 2 Flickr friends regarding experiences they, or their friends have had -- Sharyn provides a link to a friend in Minnesota, while Kris talks about his own experience in NYC. Hooray for GeeDumbya!

The lemon-lime Ribity series starts here...

Posted by claudine at 11:40 AM | Comments (2)

February 20, 2005

(No) MUNI Photo Ban...

...at least (as far as we can tell,) for now...

And so we met, and snapped a lot of pictures, and did not get so much as a glare or reprimand from anyone, neither MUNI attendant nor security enforcer, and the SFist has a wonderful summary here, where the good folks who participated are to post links to their pictures and various other musings.

As Jackson mentions, just because were able to shoot in peace today does not necessarily mean smooth sailing for everyone else forevermore. It's definitely times like these that call for people to question the arbitrary invocation of "9/11" to justify the curbing of all sorts of civil liberties.

Dumbya may be in the White House for a second term, but that doesn't mean his campaign of blind obedience based on ignorance and fear need take hold everywhere…

My Flickr photo set of the Shoot-In is here.

It was lovely to meet Rene, and Steve, and of course, Jackson. Some other participants: Bjorke of Photopermit.org, Jason D of sf.metblogs, and Derek Powazek of Ephemera.org.

Posted by claudine at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)

Fauxfiti or Fauxfitti or Faux-feetie

Lets all do the Hop
Lets all do the Hop,
originally uploaded by snailbooty.

Snailbooty over at Flickr is doing the most amusing things with pictures of walls. She takes your average, crusty, peeling, Philadelphia-grit style wall, and digitally enhances it with what she has coined "Fauxfitti."

I love it. So inspired.

See another piece here, called "Thorfinn and the Dandie Dinmonts." Snailbooty also aspires to have some real feetie to post someday...

Posted by claudine at 01:02 AM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2005

Space Cadet

I had always made jokes about driving and scanning the walls and rooftops of the city for graffiti, eyes off the road, peeled instead for any new evidence of street art, tags, throwups, Ribity. And until today, I had never been in an accident. Today, the streets were slickly wet and I was running late (or so I thought,) on my way to the SFist-organized "shoot-in" to determine whether there was indeed a MUNI ban on photography.

And there on 18th St., as I was driving and gawking at the tagged-up doors just on my left after Capp, I had to come to a screeching halt at the last second. The brakes were not as good as they should have been and I duly thumped the spare wheel of a black Honda CRV, stopped at a light.

The owner was kind enough, and, not noticing any damage to his vehicle, save a scrape on the outside covering of his jutting spare, waved it off magnanimously and soon was on his way. (I gave him my phone number just in case.) And so it was that I began the day, after a brief series of photos at the SF Mission Flea Market…

Gawking in inclement weather is definitely not a good idea.

Posted by claudine at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2005

Early Spring


It does not hit you right away. You see the bright yellow-gold happy blooms (daffodils), and the subdued whitenesses in juxtaposition; And it's not until you're on the other side of the room that you notice the smell right by the microwave where you expect to encounter the savoury scents of a warming meal... Sudden and abrupt, hints of jasmine, mingled with ylang, perhaps some magnolia, but from flowers (the whitenesses) i cannot identify.

Pungent.
Incongruous.

As if the column of scent rose high above the flowers themselves and cast itself in an umbrella-like cascade over a halo of scentless space protecting the blooms and spreading the fragrance to the furthest reaches of the room.

Posted by claudine at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2005

Weekend Graffwalk

This weekend's graffwalk was loads of fun, and it was amazing to see how much ground we covered in such a short amount of time.

Danny and I had been here before, but it was Danny who helped us see this, up high.

Some stencils I had not noticed before.

Many thanks to Steve for leading us to this amazing spot.

But none of us had been here, so a shout out to Petalum for leading us to the "Firehaus," (named by Cassidy).

A beautiful & untouched APEX piece.

It is not always typical for graffiti to be located in a place that rivals it for its beauty and boldness, but this was such a place. Wild and deserted, it could have stood on its own as a photographer's heaven. The graffiti was just an added bonus.

I finally met Cassidy and Raquel, and Steve R., and rambled under the grey silvered skies and the rain only spat out a few smatters of drops, and the cameras clicked away and all was good.

Some other photos are at Flickr.

Posted by claudine at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

Daniel Johnston


image (c) Daniel Johnston

I just saw the most amazing documentary on Sunday, titled The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It's a story about genius and madness, revolving around a remarkably talented artist who obsessively chronicled his own life through tape recorders, film and art.

It made me think of the universe and the concatenation of forces, of the choices we make and whether they're made for us; of the power one has over one's own destiny, of chance, of luck, of pure love and obsession...

Here was an individual who was gifted with remarkable talents -- creativity and brilliance oozed from every pore; manifested itself in his art, his homemade movies, his music. But here was an individual too, who suffered from mental disorder, from bouts of manic depression, delusions, and paranoia. It was clear that he was a powerful, engaging presence who strongly affected everyone who came into close contact with him. Testimony from his family, his friends, his acquaintances, all demonstrated this poignantly. And yet he is compelled -- in between bouts of his madness -- to continue to create and produce such a profusion, such a strong body of work. His music's been covered by numerous artists including, Pearl Jam, Beck, Wilco, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers, Half Japanese, and Nirvana; and his artworks has been displayed in numerous galleries all over the world.

It may seem, from this surface description, like your typical film about your typical mad genius, but the documentary is so much more than that -- the director, Jeff Feuerzeig, just in fact won Best Documentary Director at Sundance. The piece is beautiful, well-put together, virtuosic in its arrangement (it must have been quite a job to distill the massive amounts of information available) and elegant camera shots (I was drooling at all the striking cinematography). And in the end, you too, will be affected -- if you have a passion for anything in life, if you have an interest in art, music, and the stuggles inherent in the human condition.

I read with interest SFist Rita's review of the film and noted her observation, vetted by another commenter, of a bit of the exploitive nature of the film, and the questions about the complicity of the filmmaker and our complicity as an audience in watching this story of a psychologically troubled man. I need to watch the work again, and think a bit more about it. And yet isn't exploitation a question for all documentarians, for photographers, artists or filmmakers who select certain subjects? I have heard that proceeds from the documentary are going in part, to a foundation for Daniel, but I don't have any printed confirmation of that yet.

Go see this film. You will not be disappointed.

Other links:


Posted by claudine at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2005

MUNI ban on Photography?

I caught this on SFist today (thanks, Jackson!): a few days ago photographer Steve Malik found himself harassed by MUNI officials, the SFPD and BART police for taking pictures on MUNI. When Mr. Malik asked them what law or statute he violated, all three agencies could not come up with the specific regulation. They eventually informed Mr. Malik that MUNI officials had the right to refuse service to any individual they chose; and once that service is refused, that individual can be cited for trespassing and jailed!

There's a protest/ inquiry this Saturday at noon:

SFist would like to ask that anyone interested in finding out join us at noon on Saturday at the Muni Fare gate at the Embarcadero Station. Bring a camera, and we'll take a ride on the train and take some pictures, just like Gothamist did when New York City promised to start enforcing it's ban on subway photography.

I'll be there, bringing my camera and taking pictures...

Another useful link: Know your rights as a Photographer.

Posted by claudine at 06:31 PM | Comments (4)

February 10, 2005

Weirdness

This has been an interesting week for photos and photography... following the Adventure last Thursday, I didn't know that I'd have much comparable ... excitement...

It's probably just as well that 12oz. is down... I don't care about a majority of the flicks the dude purloined; I am worried about a few.

Posted by claudine at 02:07 PM | Comments (4)

February 07, 2005

Spreading Like Wildfire

From the Wooster Collective...

"what up wc, Just took a flick of the only living bomb Neckface just did in my hood, Newport Beach CA....He anialited this place.... Newport Beach has to be one of the gnarliest places to drop shit... there's millions of cops with nothing better to do that to bust kids not wearing bike helmets and survalence cameras at every stop light....im not shure how many he did but within a few hours everything was already painted over...not to mention him sitting in jail with a $20,000 set bond...he's a fukn hero!!!!!!cheers"... mr ween

From Fecal Face...

The stuff about Newport Beach is pretty damn accurate. Miles of the snobby, monied and conservative makes for a no-tolerance regard for graffiti art and artists...

Posted by claudine at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)