dirty day

I had an hour to kill.

Fortunately, I have gotten into the habit of carrying my camera in my car wherever I go. Out comes the camera and off go I, in search of something interesting. I found several of said somethings, just off of Pandosy (if you can believe it).

Graffiti and bills are about the last thing you would expect to see in the Mission. Fortunately for my photographic self, the abandoned Liquidation World building was an available canvas.

Similarly, no one would suspect the wall behind Sports Rent (née Mountain Surf, née Ski World) was covered in a huge mural of stylized Star Wars figures. Nor would one expect such disrespect for a highly revered member of the tridactyl species.

Photographers will often take (or commision others to take) pictures of themselves that are clear, clean, contrasty and classic. Search any bio page on a photographer's website, and you'll see what I mean.

I didn't expect to take this picture, nor did I anticipate it would turn out like it did, but this is absolutely the pic I will be using on my updated website. I love the many layers in the picture, from the blinds to the sign to me to the cars to the storefronts in the back. It's dirty, it's cryptic, it's nuanced, it's revealing and concealing at the same time. It perfectly sums up what I try to capture with my camera.

My pictures don't always have those layers and layers of subtext...but my best ones do. I hope to take more of them.

30.8.08. Cropped to 3X5, slight colour correction.
30.8.08. Cropped to 3X5, slight colour correction.
30.8.08. Cropped to 3X5, increase contrast, increased highlights.