After 18 months of living in the Bay Area, I have a handful of images I’m happy with. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve scoured this vast and relatively young urban setting for old decaying stuff to shoot. Whenever I was out, I sniffed the air for urban rot. I followed countless leads and found myself in countless dead ends. A problem for me out here is most things I want to shoot are fenced off, meaning that a shiny new fence would be in the shot. And then of course, finding an old run down building or neighborhood doesn’t mean there’s a shot. But persistance pays off.
One image is almost finished, so here is the almost finished work, shot with my friend Kathy long, long ago. There was a lot of dust on the negative when I scanned it, which is very evident in the image. It still needs to be cleaned up… I’ll wash its face, comb its hair, and send it off into the mad, mad world to be shanghaied, hog-tied, refried, and finally left roadside with a bottle of JD in a dirty gutter. But Papa will always love you…
4 responses so far ↓
1 Tatjana // May 7, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Tomorrow should be fun. As long as we go on Skaggs during the day, the cops shouldn’t be there. Oh, it sounds so horrible. My friend has only been caught once, and I have yet to get caught. So let’s keep our fingers crossed.
According to the owner of the abandoned train station, some people have been breaking in. Surely enough it should still look hella cool on the inside. Just bring some lights.
For Skaggs we can take my car. For Oakland, whichever you would like.
2 Jeff Eastin // May 9, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I’m waiting on your LA shots, but this is perhaps my favorite image. Something very powerful about it. Hit me in the gut when I saw it. Not just decay, but the deterioration of a whole way of life.
3 X // May 9, 2008 at 6:39 pm
It was a stunning site - quite beautiful… in that don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-the-collapse kind of way. I’m glad it spoke to you. The shots we did together in LA are next in line.
4 John Jordan // Jul 9, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Hello X.N.,
My son and I saw your work at the Des Moines art show. We really liked your work and spoke with you for a while about the night shots you do. We’ve been contemplating trying some shots of our own. You said, and correct me if I’m wrong, that you use 100 or 200 speed film, and that you use 30 to 45 minute exposures. And judging from the depth of field in your photos, I’m guessing that your aperture is as small as it can go. (forgive my lack of photography lingo). How much “filling in” do you do with the flash? For instance, the picture on your website of “San Francisco ruins”…. how much of that had to be filled in with flash and how much is sodium and mercury vapor? How many flashes per position? What time of day was it (at what time of the year)? Was there moonlight? I hope you don’t mind an amatuer pestering you for tips, but I was fascinated by your work (note shameless flattery). I also enjoy the photos on “lost america”… google that if you haven’t seen it before.
One last question, could one use a faster film (400) / shorter exposure (10 min) and still get the same effects / quality.
Thanks for your time and thanks for coming to DM and inspiring us. Hope to see you next year.
JJ
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