as you were

so i’m in boston.. here for a week, then vegas for my birthday, then back to boston for a few months. im glad to be in a new city.. i always love that feeling.. but i’m not looking forward to the workload. la was too easy. speaking of easy living..

leica m6 coupled with the 35/2 summicron which i traded back for my pops 35/1.4 Summilux just for that beautiful contrast that only the cron can deliver. these were all shot on provia 400 in one rediculously long day.

after a two day extension.. my san francisco retreat has come to an imminent close. its been really refreshing to come up here.. enjoy the sf family and relax. shot quite a lot of film, and there are some party photos/stories that will be shared as soon as i dump the card. its freshman orientation week at my old USF and the perverbeal “breaking in” has begun. a group of about 20 hand selected freshman were invited to my friends loft.. the booze dissapeared in minutes.. and consciences (word?) were put on the back burner.

i can hear screaming outside.. i think part two is about to begin.. i’ll be finishing this one tomorrow morning!

edit- the morning after …

and heres a brief summary in photos:

k so that was absolutely rediculous. again. i believe the term is.. “turning out”

its not that i feel responsible for under age drinking.. i just supplied the booze ! eek.
at this time i’d like to point everyones attention over to the talented, charming, and overly international Piotr Jakubowski.. after about a week of brainstorming.. he came up with a name for his blog.. i introduce everyone to http://pointseventwo.wordpress.com .. that would be .72 dot wordpress dot com … he’s got some images up from our day out in LA that came out really well.

i bumped into a friend of mine in SF who was at the same university as Piotr in Japan.. apparently you pronounce his name P-Ot.. never knew. i called him peter.

the summer is coming to a very very immediate close.. i return to boston on thursday.. my schedule is going to be absolutely rediculous and i dont know how i’ll be able to finish with a reasonable GPA.. but we’ll see what happens. my primary photo course, advanced pj, requires a photo essay a week.. that on top of 2-3 assignments for the paper.. and being at the paper almost every night of the week 5p – 1/2a.. not anticipating much sleep. if anyone is from boston that reads this.. lets get coffee
right now i’m listening to Goodie Mobb’s “Soul Food” … for those who thought C-Lo was a genius for his work on the summer’s most played out gem “Crazy” .. check out where he’s really from.. the production is groovy.. the rhyming is durty durty south.. that realness.

i’ve been really curious about this little monster: The Ricoh GRD … 28mm/2.4 fixed lens.. 8mp point and shoot? fully manual controls? can we say street shooting galore? i probably wont end up getting one because ive promised myself the next cam is a mamiya 6 or a hasselblad.. but yeah.. that thing looks like alot of fun.

the drive back down the 5 fwy is always a sobering experience.. this time i didnt have anyone with me.. as illustrated:

..but the sunsets are always excellent and i had more than enough memories from the week up in san francisco to occupy my mindspace for 270 miles.

i’ll be posting a summer-in-review something-or-other soon.. lots of material

my best friend julius just got a leica. check him out @ http://gunsbitchesandweed.wordpress.com .. and no, i’m not kidding about the url. some people just have a lil more thug in em than the rest of us.

thanks for reading.

i think this is going to be a short one. dont quote me on that.

yesterday was spent rolling around beverly hills, “weho”, westwood (etcetc) in a black car with one cool sucka named piotr. “bule” to some.. piotr had my ass out of bed and on the 110S way too early in the morning to pick him and his girl karen up at LAX for a day of cruising the mean streets and mind bludgening (sorry karen!) photo talk. it was nice to see someone else my age toting a leica the same way i do..

many good frames were made.. i’m sure i was making faces in all of them.. but who knows. i trust the man with a camera.

i read a very interesting article on stock photo agencies today in pop photo. with the current trends in marketing, as well as the growing importance for companies to connect with the “youtube” generation (just heard that phrase earlier on npr), i think the photos that may seem mundane and novelty to me.. snapshots.. weird encounters.. candid moments of friends etc.. can be used (and will be used) more heavily in advertisement in the coming future. (run on.) i beleive photography is shifting to a more hi-fi look.. while i cant say its all because we’re using digital sensors now instead of film, but i feel like the trendy aesthetic is constantly progressing alongside the rapid development of camera/imaging technology.

in short: i want to snap photos of strangers and make money to buy nice things.

thats all i really wanted to say, but got carried away.

but i like how that happens.. i find myself thinking things out more when i’m writing (typing) them down.

i’m losing track of how much film is coming and going.. only one roll from the lab, two tomorrow (i think?).

i burned this roll because i wanted these frames asap. i really like them. they were taken on a really fucking hot afternoon downtown @ the moca with a beautiful friend. leica m6/35 1.4 on tri-x.

right now it feels like my entire hangover is concentrated in my right arm, strange. last night was great.  didnt make many frames, but sometimes life isn’t meant to be remembered.

i have to confess that i came down harshly in that last post about Crimebo the clown. the bottom line is the dude is doing what he loves, and who the fuck am i to criticize that. somehow he found the blog entry. that’s what i get though.. airing dirty laundry, someones going to see the streaks.

that was kinda vulgar but somehow it works.

the summer is coming to a screeching halt.. i can feel it. whenever the back to school commercials start up in august i always get a little pissed off.

as a journalism major i have always been infatuated with the power of the media. the concept of selling news, giving people context in their lives, its such a massive power. although the journalism industry has been quick to separate itself from the blogging community, these web-pages have an audience. there is someone sitting and sharing their views on the world with the public. i have an audience.

i’m currently working on getting images from Lebanon, to report the status of Beirut from the eyes of a 20 year old. no news desks, no bureau chiefs. as far as i’ve heard, the situation is harsh, but only in the south. there is also no distinction in the western media between the christian and Muslim communities in Lebanon. these communities are black and white. as my friend put it, “its like there is a country underneath us.” in the past week the roads to Syria have been destroyed, and rocket attacks from Hezbollah have increased twofold, despite claims from Israel that they have made crippling progress against Hezbollah. I’m ranting. bottom line don’t watch fox news.

i’m also tired of seeing al’Qaeda and Hezbollah spelled 11 different ways in 4 different periodicals.

i’m crossing topics off my list left and right with this post..

everyone needs to register with

HTTP://PHOTOBLOGS.ORG

i’m going to estimate that 70% of the traffic that i am getting to this page is from deviantart photographers.. this is well and good, and i’m more satisfied with the comments i’ve received int he last few weeks than i’ve ever been at that other spot, but we need to broaden the audience. i wont slip back into a journalism rant, promise. its just a good idea, the work i’ve been seeing lately has been excellent (and quite b/w from everyone!) and i think people on photoblogs.org would enjoy it.

think about it.

photos…. 2 rolls coming from the lab which will be posted later.