Empty playground – States Street
New condos – 17th and Clayton Streets
These three new condos are listed for sale in the neighborhood of $1.3 million — that’s each. The three chairs–which attracted me to the scene– are part of the staging to the model unit, I assume. I set of steps on the west side of Mt. Olympus overlooks these decks and patios. But what they may lack in privacy they make up for in wind. A few miles on the other side of that foggy hill is an ocean stretching largely unbroken all the way to Asia. In summer, wind howls over these hills, and on this day it was all I could do to hold the camera steady in the face of a gale.
I frame a picture – Market Street
One of the photography blogs was running a self-portrait contest, and I thought – nah. Then I walked by this window on Market Street. This photo really didn’t work in color. There was too much going on and too many different color temperatures: cool shade on the sidewalk, warm reflections from across the street, the fluorescent light from the shop. And the contest? At first I couldn’t remember where to submit the file; then, when I stumbled on the mention of the contest mention again, it was too late.
The headless hammer guy – 17th Street
Most mornings on my way to work, I pass this statue that I have come to think of as the headless hammer guy. He is planted in a manner that conceals his handicap along a lovely stretch of 17th Street just west of Market, where a row of Victorian homes is separated from the sidewalk by a low wall and a short hillside of terraced gardens. These gardens are regularly tended without being over-manicured, and on the street side of the sidewalk are large planters containing small trees, or big flowers, or both–creating a fifty-foot-long tunnel of green. Lately, I would have said that the statue had his eye on me (if he had an eye, that is) as if he wished to make a request. Finally I figured it out what he might want, and the next time I came by, I brought my camera.
Magnolia and fence, Pemberton Steps
One of my goals is to someday do a photographic series on San Francisco’s sets of public steps. A hilly city, we are blessed by many of these, climbing past leafy backyards and past gates and walkways that lead to the spacious homes, tiny cottages, and apartments of those who are lucky enough to live along them. These steps are on the east side of Twin Peaks within an easy walk of my home. Here I was struck by the contrast between the shape of the tree and the disciplined line of the manmade fence.
New Mexico – summer 1988
Scanning old black and white negatives I came across this one, which I am posting–a couple of days late–in honor of my sister Katherine’s birthday. That’s her on the right, dancing with her husband Arthur to music from the car radio. My wife is looking on. Don’t recall why the flagman had stopped us, but we obviously thought we would be there for a while.
House, fence, and utility lines – Pescadero, CA
Look at the roses! A woman I met while I was making this picture told me that while certain types of roses love the moist, cool climate of this village less than mile from the coast, other types, such as the Bourbon variety, won’t open at all here. Of the several times I have photographed this house, this is the first image that has felt right to me, probably because the utility wires mimic the lines of the fence and the road and seem to hold the image together.
Volkswagens, Moss Beach, CA
Yesterday in Moss Beach. Many of the homes in this town south of San Francisco are well-kept cottages set in flowery yards. Two things interested me about this outlier–the battered VWs (there were five in all, three buses and two bugs)–and the window curtains, which suggested abandonment.
leave a comment