outdoor

Portrait of a Chinatown Pop-up Grocer

 

Chinatown Pop-up Grocer (Chinatown Hustle Series), Oakland CA, Fall 2016.

 

Oakland’s Chinatown is all about getting a bargain on fresh food. Close enough to the Port of Oakland and Oakland’s central produce market, you can’t beat the prices on fresh greens, pork, poultry, or fresh sea food (from cat fish to eel).

Lately I have been preoccupied, pondering why photography seems to gravitate to these ethnic enclaves.  One can read Chinatown photographs as a kind of internal travel photography that at some level objectifies the subjects it captures.   Weary of enacting the colonial gaze, I battle with my desire to shoot as an outsider.

This shot illustrates the anxiety I articulate above because I wanted to make a portrait of this friendly pop-up fruit seller as she seemed friendly enough but every time I pointed that lens at her she raised her hand as if saying hello, but blocking her face on purpose.  After the fourth click I realized that was the shot: her clean, tidy fruit set up waiting for the next customer to sell her handful of goods. I like the shot because it was clear it was ok for me to take the shot, but it needed to be done on her terms, stripping away the power of the camera and a potential colonial gaze.

I began this series because more and more, this corner of Oakland is becoming dear to me and I fear that it is only a matter of time before the sea-change that is rapidly transforming the cityscape also claims Chinatown for the sake if new luxury development.  It’s only a matter of time, thus the Chinatown Hustle series seeks to document its working life and people.

 

–JMG

Portrait of a Bay Area Freedom Fighter

Portrait of an Bay Area Freedom Fighter, Oakland CA, Summer 2016.

Oakland has a long, deep tradition of activism. From the Black Panthers to the Black Block of the occupy movement to the most recent Black Lives Matters movement,

strong advocates for common humanity make Oakland home. As an observer of the city’s movements for the last decade, Pancho stands out as a figure reminiscent of Mario Salvio who doesn’t hold back to speak truth to power. He carries a flag imprinted with a globe because universal human rights is his cause.

On this day he was happy to meet Bobby Seale, who graciously granted I take a portrait of them together. I meant for this shot to have historical significance as it shows the penthouse that Huey P. Newton lived at when we was finally exonerated from attempt of murder charges in his infamous 1968 case.

Pancho reminds me of one of those prophets in Biblical time whose commitment to truth and justice defines his conviction to refuse excess, rely on the bare essentials to finds rightiousness.  I love that the camera reveals these figures to me as I realize that without it I would miss the Ghaindi’s and King’s around me.

–JMG

Waiting

Waiting, Oakland CA, Summer 2016.

Some say bus stops are excellent spaces to photograph people in their urban environment. The Bay Area has ferry stops too.

Like bus stops, waiting for the next one forces riders to slow down. If you look close enough, you’ll notice that waiting can turn into a siesta sometimes. Who needs a bed when you have grassy shade to nap on?

— JMG

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO 100/ 1/640 / f. 11

A Series of Decisive Moments (Piñata Sequence)

PiñataSequence

A Series of Decisive Moments (Piñata Sequence), Oakland CA, Summer 2016.

 

Blindfold or no blindfold this kid was going to smash something. You can tell it was all about delivering a kill shot on the pinãta because most kids go for the candy and this kid didn’t even think twice about it when he saw he took it down. In true Steph Curry fashion he walks off cool as ice. Tilden National Park casting a shadow on the ground and the reactions of my bestie’s engagement party guests are my favorite part of the picture.

I have been enjoying getting to know my OMD-EM5. Like any new camera it has its plus and minus side. Overall I love that I can carry it around given its size, and to be quite honest, its price. No matter how fabulously clean shots I might get from a full frame, high end DSLR, I wouldn’t fell comfortable using it as a “commuter.” That’s what I call the M5 because I take to work everyday in case inspiration strikes between the parking lot and the office. This sequence was shot withe a Lumix f.1.8 / 14-35mm, a very clean lens when optimal focus is achieved.

–JMG

Sun Kissed Hill Tops & Bay Panorama

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Sun Kissed Hill Tops and Bay Panorama, Oakland, CA, Summer 2016.  OE-M5 1/100, f.14.0, ISO 200.

I was driving home after a party at Tilden National Park when this panorama opened as I cleared a curve on the road. I had to pull over to take a few frames with my EM-5. Without a tripod in hand, I rested the camera on a guard rail stump.

The sun kissed tree tops of the Berkeley Hills are my subject, the gratuitous back ground was a bonus given how clear the day was. The photo also shows the most significant land marks of the SF Bay, including the Berkeley Hill tops.

–JMG

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Showers of Light Over Angel Island

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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.