Beyond Composition

N o MAS!

I wanted to do some SP today, but before I could go, I had to get some paintings done. Before I could do the paintings, I had to make the panels. Before I could make the panels I had to pick up a table saw. Before I could use the table saw I had to put it together.. and there-in lays the rub.

The saw was made in China. Well,it wasn't extactly "made" there - 'cause like the United States the Chinese don't actually make things anymore. What they do is stuff a bunch of nuts, bolts, screws, washers, springs, into a box made of recycled Starbucks cups and ship it off for us to put together.

They always include a diagram - the same diagram no matter what the product. You can't figure it out anyway. Oh yeah, and how 'bout changing the ribbon on the old dot matrix printer next time. Another thing that Berlitz English course - get a refund. I should go to the Olympics, take a side trip and look these jokers up. "you think it's funny? Funny like a clown? We amuse you??"

We've been so busy putting all this lead-paint-bird-flu-
erector-set reject crap together we took our eye off the thieves at the gate. Chinese to the left of us, C.E.O.'s to the right, and here we are - stuck in the middle-class quick sand goo- and got that sinking feeling, that ache in the pit of the stomach that says this time it's for real, this time they screwed the pooch good and there won't be any goin back.

Where's bONGO??

When I first started out in SP, I would sometimes make a shot that I was so sure at the time was "great" that I would get this massive adrenaline rush like the top of my head would explode. This shot did that. Not 'cause I thought it was that great, but 'cause a bus laid on the air horn as it whizzed a few millimeters around me.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I was a few feet off the curb aligned where the two mirrors intersect, and where my reflection would vanish along with half the bus.

ZIG Life

I checked out the Sony A300 - what a sweet package. The live-view with articulated lcd is da bomb for the street. But not wanting to invest in yet another DSLR system, I picked up a used first generation Zigview to hang on the back of my K10D. Total cost including shipping and the Pentax adapter came to $85. It turns out this thing has some major limitations - but if you can get one for around $100 or less I think it's worth the money. The screen swivels 360 degrees but only usable in the up and down positions as you get a chopped view in the other angles.

Switching back and forth from Zig to viewfinder requires two hands and ten or fifteen seconds (an eternity in Sp time) but it can be done - hint: make sure you wear a shirt with a pocket. The second and third generation zigviews look like a better implementation but way pricey and from what I've gathered have the same 1.3 cmos sensor.

bONGO, zig - zaggin down the street...

Huh? WOW! WOW! Huh,?

Ed Ruscha, the artist once said:
Good art is Huh Wow, while Bad art is Wow Huh.
Here we have Wow! - cool shot of a skateboarder!... but then ...yeah so, Huh?
.
Here we have a guy with a cup of coffee - Huh? Then we notice the hair -wirey - like the trolley wires! And doesn't caffine make you wired! - WOW!

Then again Peter Schjeldahl, the art critic, once said:
"Art isn't inherently anything.... The possibility that the whole thing is bullshit can't be excluded."

Undeletable

Taken about two years ago, well after my "ban on bum shots" pledge. I've never printed or displayed this image but there is something about it - the shined shoe sticking out from the blanket I think - that keeps me from deleting it. I have a lot of "undeletables" enough to make an alternative collection.They have been dragged across several hard drives now, but I can't bring myself to use them or delete them. Some are borderline good others not so much but all impervious to "Del"...
ciao bongo

A Fake and A Fraud

a fake and a fraud -that's what I feel like every time I sit down to update this blog 'cause the truth is I haven't been doing much if any street photography lately - I'm ashamed to admit. I'm a bit burned out and bummed out but not completely blacked out - yet. I've seen some pretty good SP lately and it's got my competitive juices going some. I want to hit the bricks with a new attitude and a new set of eyeballs - forget all the BS I've been sprouting here, and see if I can still take a decent snap... we shall see.