Cole Street warrior
Not sure if I should recognize this warrior princess (if, in fact, she is a princess) getting ready to lop-off the head of an unsuspecting passerby. Maybe she is an original creation by the artist. There are several new murals in the Haight Ashbury district, at least two of them featuring militant women. I love photographing the vibrant colors of San Francisco’s many murals but always try to place them in context by adding some of the surroundings.
Flying figure – Boston MFA
Reaching back a few months to a trip to New England last October. Whenever I am in Boston, I try to spend a day at the Museum of Fine Arts, where this juxtaposition of the flying figure and an earthbound one caught my eye. My recollection is that the flying figure is by Kiki Smith — it reminds me of her work in the San Francisco MOMA – but I am unable to confirm that from here.
Bookstore cat
I try to get to Aardvark Books on Church Street at least once or twice a month. The big attraction? A wonderful selection of used photo books. And on a sunny day in January — a basking cat.
RIP James Gurley
The sign mourns the death of James Gurley, a member of the rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company and “instrumental in the formation of the Hippie counter culture that began here in the Haight-Ashbury.” The Haight is one of the closest neighborhoods to my home. I was photographing the sign when this gentleman stopped to light his cigarette, and I thought it looked like a picture.
A few from the mountains
We were invited to this cabin perched above the Yuba River over the New Year holiday. My custom when traveling is to arise early and take a camera for a walk before others folks are awake. And this is what greeted me New Year’s morning. Because of the snowstorm, I kept my digital camera zipped under my jacket. The snow was very deep, but the road near the house had been packed by snowmobiles, so I was able to walk to a bridge over the river.
The next day dawned bright and sunny, and I was able to shoot some black-and-white film around the cabin.
Toby’s Feed Barn, Point Reyes Station
Yah, yah, yah, I know Christmas is over, but I am just getting around to scanning this film. We drove up to Point Reyes in November for the annual Open Studios. Saw some nice photos, and Christmas trees were already on sale. Leica M6, Portra NC 160
Through the window – Kezar Pub and Restaurant
The Kezar, a Cole Valley institution, is named after the nearby Kezar Stadium, former home of both the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders. The bar is bathed in natural light from big windows on the north and east. Taken through the north window on Christmas morning. Photographer visible in the center of the mirror behind the bar.
Old Glory at Old Navy
Until last week, I had not made a digital image for more than a year, photographing only on film. But I missed the convenience of digital and recently began carrying a Canon 5D again with a very light and compact 40 mm Voightlander “pancake” lens. The photo was made on my way to work at the Old Navy flagship (pardon the pun) store on Market Street. A crop obviously — some photos just want to be square.
Warning! Missing months below
This blog began life as an experiment in the spring and summer of 2008 over on Google’s blogger platform. My posting slowed down in August and came to a halt when someone close to me suffered an accident that occupied much of my time over several months.
I am now relaunching Legible Light on the WordPress platform. Posts below this point were ported over from Blogger, which explains the smaller images sizes.
The above self-portrait with religious statuary was made a few weeks before Christmas with a Leica M6, my walk-around camera for days when my old shoulders are particularly weary.
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