Lowriding Familia (Lowrider Series), Niles CA, Spring 2015.
Cars, chrome, and family are what makes these events special. This shot is emblematic of the family values car culture tends to affirm. Like the family home, the family lowrider is a source of unity and pride.
–JMG
Zeta’s Lupe, Oakland, CA, Fall 2014
Unique threads out on Oakland nights. I noticed this young woman and could not get my eyes off her unique sense of style. I had to work up the courage to see if she would humor me when I asked if I could shoot some of her tattoos and unique top. She told me the top was hand made by her grandmother and was handed down to her recently. She was more than happy to let me shoot her with my HTC One (M8).
I wish I would have had my Nikon, but this worked good enough as I could not let the opportunity go by without a shot. Since she was happy to pose, I regret not asking her to give me a profile of her face with this pose.
Alas, on the pursuit of the aura on the street and dive bars of San Francisco Bay area.
Showers of Light Over Angel Island (f.64 Series), Emeryville, CA, Spring 2015.
I’m always always lamenting the fact that the Bay Area doesn’t get nearly the kind of dramatic cloud formations as in higher altitudes. But come and think of it there ARE great cloud formations around the bay but you have to know where to find them. What I call the mouth of the Bay is ideal. Especially in the summer, every evening clouds roll in across the Bay eventually meeting into the Berkeley Hills.
A Sunday walk at the Emeryville Marina was rewarded with this formation giving off dramatic light over Angel Island. It would have been great to shoot on Black and White film given how much one might be able to get out of the cloud formation in the dark room. I’m adding to my digital editing skills every day. I got enough out of the clouds her to want to share it.
Grand Entrance (Sequence), Niles CA, Spring 2015
This sequence depicts an interesting ritual observed at low rider shows: the grand low and slow entrance. This Impala owner arrives at a magic hour, the time when the sun goes down and cruising into the show like a bride walking down the isle highlights the best thing of the culture. The quality time that cruising foments is often overlooked as a valuable part of this car cultura.
Oakland Photo Journal 