South End Grit
Focal Length: 20mm | Aperture: f4 | Exposure: 1/125 | ISO: 1000 | Post: CS4
I was lucky enough to link up with friend and Chicago-based photographer Ian Merritt (IDM Photography), the day after Thanksgiving and ramble through what has become one of my favorite wastelands of industrial decay in the South End of B-Town off Flynn Avenue. I really cherish the exploring via the lens with a chum who shares the same excitement for photography and grimy subject matter, you find yourself feeding off of each other’s energy, almost pushing each other to find the ideal grab. It’s also really fun to see how the same place or subject is captured through another’s cam, what catches their eye, how they frame the shot etc. Ian is no exception, his work is incredible and I very much enjoy his keen eye and prolific body of work, swing through his kick-ass blog and be sure to peep the 50 Portraits Project he has underway, he also Tweets much more frequently than I, under the handle of @IDMPhoto.
Pike Place
Focal Length: 18mm | Aperture: f4 | Exposure: 1/60 | ISO: 200 | Post: CS1
Separating the water from downtown Seattle lies a wall of connected structures that has become a hub for those who seek fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood and just about everything else in-between. The Pike Place Market also provides a selection of restaurants, brewpubs, and I think I even saw a hot dog cart, if you dig on food, you’ll dig Pike Place. The people watching is also quite sensational, all walks of life walk the halls selecting ingredients for upcoming meals, or perhaps just a snack.
Lusciously Mundane
Focal Length: 28mm | Aperture: f5.6 | Exposure: 1/400 | ISO: 1000 | Post: CS4
So let’s be honest: I fucking adore color, especially in often overlooked everyday circumstances. The bright orange of a traffic cone set against the dull and dirty background of asphalt, vibrant graffiti lining the walls of an avoided alley, the vividly colored plastic of trash or recycling bins on the sidewalk, I love all these things. Fortunately, I’m surrounded by such occurrences on a daily basis (most of us are), the trick is putting effort into actually observing and appreciating the splashes of color that are apparent in our everyday lives. Take a walk and soak it up.
Lost Highway
Focal Length: 18mm | Aperture: f5.6 | Exposure: 1/4000 | ISO: 1000 | Post: CS4
A little less than 1.5 miles of an empty four lane freeway spur off of I-89 spans from South Burlington into Burlington. The project was abandoned in the 1980’s due to funding and a few other programs that weren’t in the right place at the right time, deadlines were missed and eventually ideas shifted. Now this stretch of asphalt lies dormant and untouched, plants have begun to stake claim in cracks resulting from the ground shifting over the years. Jersey barriers adorned with colorful spraypaint block off the ends and a portion at the intersection of Industrial Ave. and Pine Streets has been turned into a makeshift parking lot for nearby businesses. It is a wasteland, an eerie graveyard of a public works project gone awry, a monument of what could have been. It’s also great place to add some miles to the shoes and snap a few rounds with the cam.
Barrett’s Trucking
Focal Length: 18mm | Aperture: f5.6 | Exposure: 1/500 | ISO: 1000 | Post: CS4
While wandering Flynn Avenue, I walked into a truck yard with a few luscious industrial structures in various states of decay. This is the kind of stuff that makes me beam with delight upon discovery, worn colors and rough textures in areas that typically display bright “No Tresspassing” signs with chain-link fences and razorwire. More often than not, someone has already found a way in and I merely follow the tracks of those before me, camera in tow.
Burlington Brick
Focal Length: 31mm | Aperture: f9 | Exposure: 1/320 | ISO: 250 | Post: CS4
Delicious simplicity, texture, color and composition. I love how you can see where the city has made an effort to remove the graffiti from the brick, yet traces of it linger…
Stockton Street
Focal Length: 18mm | Aperture: f5.6 | Exposure: 1/125 | ISO: 100 | Post: CS1
When venturing to Chinatown in San Francisco, you are most often lead to Grant Street, where numerous shops and storefronts sling a wide array of all things China. Smells of Chinese cuisine drift towards the nostrils, camera batteries are sold, that beautiful Chinese calligraphy labels all of the shops and restaurants. Golden dragons, colorful lanterns, and vibrantly intricate garments are all there. Grant Street is the Chinatown for white people or tourists. The real Chinatown runs one block up the hill and parallel to Grant and that is Stockton Street. Here is where the SF residents of Chinese descent shop and eat and swap wares. It’s less glamorous and more genuine, it’s stinky and sticky and incredibly dirty, I love it.
Piece
Focal Length: 135mm | Aperture: f5.6 | Exposure: 1/500 | ISO: 140 | Post: CS1
This was taken at the Olympic/China/Tibet Rally along the Embarcadero in San Francisco last year, quite a display of raw human power. I love the man rising up against the lamp post with his big ‘ol Peace symbol bling and his vivid red accessories complimenting the entirety of his “uniform”. What I don’t get, is just to the right of this gentleman is a blue jellyfish on a stick that really has nothing to fucking do with the situation in protest that day.
Main Street, Bristol
Focal Length: 125mm | Aperture: f8 | Exposure: 1/1600 | ISO: 400 | Post: CS1
Old and colourful storefronts line the (about one city block in length) main drag in Bristol, Vermont. A pristine yet glorious specimen of a small “anytown” USA.
Seattle Grime
Focal Length: 20mm | Aperture: f3.8 | Exposure: 1/20 | ISO: 400 | Post: PS7
Like candy to a child, I fail resistance to dirty, gross and gritty alleys. I love them. They are the often neglected backside to commerce and residence; deliveries are made, trash is stored, air ducts converge, kitchen noises waft and textures are abundant (in addition to stench). I cannot simply walk by one without veering within to explore. What stood out for me in Seattle was the fact that the streets and downtown areas are impressively clean for a populous metropolitan locale, but not the alleys, the alleys are just as fantastically “grungy” as any other urban corridor I’ve had the pleasure of getting gum stuck to the sole of my shoes in.
Vice Peddler
Focal Length: 28mm | Aperture: f4 | Exposure: 1/30 | ISO: 400 | Post: CS1
Lottery, smokes and booze, all that separates you is a counter and the man who trades money for vice. This was my corner “stop ‘n rob” when I lived in the NOPA section of Western Addition in San Francisco, I was in here daily, in fact, if you look closely on the counter there, you’ll see my PBR tallboy and a Sparx (not the baby bottle) to start off my evening of debauchery.
Up From Spear
Focal Length: 42mm | Aperture: f6.3 | Exposure: 1/160 | ISO: 100 | Post: PS7
A shot skyward looking at the Hyatt Regency (left) from Spear Street at the edge of the Financial District and a mere two blocks away from the Embarcadero and ultimately, San Francisco Bay.
Sporti’s Burlington
Camera: Ilford Sporti | Film: Ilford HP5 120 | ISO: 400 | Post: CS4
I bought my second Ilford Sporti a few months ago off eBay from a chap in Britain. They seem to be quite rare in the states as my first Sporti was also from the UK. It’s a great little medium format (120) point and shoot camera built in [West] Germany during the 1960’s. It’s about as basic as you can get: two shutter speeds, focus from 5′ to infinity all encased almost entirely in metal so it’s pretty rugged for such a “cheap” camera. I love it’s retro looks and heft in addition to it’s medium format protocol.
There’s no metering whatsoever, nor is there through-the-lens (TTL) focusing, so there’s quite a bit of guess work involved which quite honestly, is half the fun for me. I shot a few test rolls in Burlington, and I was able to get them developed a few days ago. (Transferred from musingsviabones.com)
Dogpatch
Focal Length: 22mm | Aperture: f5 | Exposure: 1/100 | ISO: 200 | Post: CS1
A few of my favorite things: grit, color and composition, luscious. The Dogpatch is one of my sought out areas in San Francisco simply for the fact that it provides a satiating amount of visual fodder in lieu of the fore mentioned attributes in it’s semi-neglected industrial landscape. Fun fact: the photo of me that now resides on the Bio page within this site was taken in this very same spot by Phillip Hua.
San Francisco’s Finest
Focal Length: 95mm | Aperture: f5.6 | Exposure: 1/400 | ISO: 200 | Post: CS1
The SFPD stands tall and alert while observing the scene at the Olympic/China/Tibet rally along the Embarcadero, in San Francisco, California.
