QUESTION:

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

RESPONSE:

I learned most of my techniques through trial and error – there is no formula that will explain the way every shot was done, as each image is a custom built photograph. The best way to learn this is just by going out shooting. Having said that, here’s some information you should find useful.
First, the film…
I use Kodak Ultra 100asa film. Its a film that gives me very rich colors. The 120mm film version was discontinued a year ago (but I have a 10-year supply of it in the freezer… bouahahahah!!). They may still have it in 35mm. The film I used before this was Agfa Ultra 50 asa 120mm. I used it from Alley 25 to Alley 57. I took a 4-year break (between #57 and #58) from shooting alleys for several reasons. When I returned, the Agfa had been discontinued and I wanted to cry because it was such an amazing film. It may still be available in 35mm, in which case I’d suggest you start with that. I then discovered Kodak Ultra (which also gives me great colors at night), so the heartache was short-lived, but I learned my lesson, which explains the freezer-full.
The lower the asa, the richer and more contrasty your colors will be (plus the image will be sharper and less grainy). If I shot with a 400asa film, a 60-minute shot would be reduced to 15-minutes, which is great, but the final result would be an inferior image, which is not so great.
Exposure time:
My exposures run from less than a minute (rare) to 90-minutes (rare). Most run in the 10-15-minute range. All the controls are customized for the specific shot, so although I want the aperture to be closed down to get everything in focus, sometimes it is almost wide-open. Stadium and Window Fire and others were almost wide open because the settings were extremely dark. Closing another stop for Stadium would have given me greater depth of field (which I wish I had), but would have meant a 3-hour exposure, instead of the 90-minutes I opted for. A side note: closing “all the way” can be detrimental to image quality. Optimal is roughly 80% closed down.
Lighting:
Once again every shot is unique. I’ve used everything from a small pen light to hi-lite a tiny area (the street poster gun in Can’t Sleep), to enough lighting to fill most of the frame (Green Door). And when I started the series in 1991 and for several years, I forbid myself from using any of my lighting (or even moving anything at all), under punishment of death.

Today I light most of my images. A recent example is Angel Luis. During this 10-minute exposure I walked/ran around with a 30CC Green Lee gel on my flash, pointing it down, firing it, and doing what’s called “light painting.” The 30CC replicates fluorescent lighting on daylight balanced film. I have a whole set of Lee gels (i.e. filters for lights) that I look through to decide on my lighting.  WAKE UP, WAKE UP! I’M NOT FINISHED!
I then switched gels to a 1/2 CTB (blue) Lee gel and continued my lighting, again firing it numerous times.

“Goast Pier,” my recent San Francisco pier shot is a case where I used a hi-powered halogen spot light to light the entire building, a quarter of a mile away in the background. I used the same spot to light parts of the pier and its legs. These features were dark at the site, and their amazing detail had to be seen. The city light at the scene was sodium vapor, which creates an almost neon orange color on (my) film. My halogen lighting is also orange on film, though of a different quality.
All the Alley images are shot long after dark, although some sun can creep in in the form of moonlight. The effect of this light is mainly seen in the blue skies at night. When moonlight is mixed with a sodium vapor-filled sky, the result is a pink or purple hue.

So now you know my secrets, and as they say… now I must kill you…

I fly to Des Moines tomorrow at midnight (with an armful of artwork) to get my van and drive to Chicago for the Magnificent Mile show. I have many orders to ship out, many pieces to prepare, new images I want to test-print and finish. I’ve also made a brochure illustrating the alleys which I’ll be sending to museums and galleries worldwide, as well as to everyone on my mailing list. (If you aren’t on it, send me an email with your snail mail address) I’m also preparing for 2 gallery shows in August. One at Stanford University’s Art Spaces (fifteen 32×40’s !); the other at San Joaquin Valley College Gallery in Stockton, CA.

Driving back through the desert on a moonless night was mind-blowing. I had to stop on a dark side road so I could get out of my van and stare up. I’ve never seen the Milky Way so bright and beautiful. I could stare at the stars for hours. The book that whacked my head the hardest was the late Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. I read it in my early 20’s and it put the universe, and my reality, into a deep and profound perspective.

And now for some bitching….I lost many of the pictures I took yesterday because my stupid-ass digital camera is a piece of crap. I was fuming for hours, obsessing over their loss, and trying to remember what they looked like. I shouldn’t really care, because the camera is a low-quality thing that makes lousy 8×10’s. So the pictures I take on my trips are just for fun and are ultimately throw aways. (Although my blog has given them an outlet which is great)

But damn is it annoying! I had several great Rocky Mountain shots that I went out of my way to get, plus an odd picture for my friend Ernesto who collects unusual sign photos for his blog. There’s a road in Colorado called No Name, and it has an exit off highway 70.

Here’s a tip for you. I’ve driven across the country several times. If you plan on doing this, avoid Hwy 80. The 70 offers spectacular views of the Colorado Rockies, and the Utah bluffs

Most of my Colorado shots are lost, but I did get some shots in Utah. Now I have to take a nap………………

Agfa Ultra gave me fantastic colors outside at night – I rarely needed to bring my own lights. The film I use today is Kodak Ultra (ultra, again, for ultra color), which also gives me strong vibrant colors, but it doesn’t see some of the colors Agfa did in the city lights. Instead, today I need to bring my own lights and gels (filters for lights) to round out the spectrum.

A few years ago I called Kodak to see if Kodak Ultra was on the endangered list. A techie told me not to worry, that it was here to stay. I freaked out – I’d heard these words before!! I immediately started hording the film, buying enough to last me more than ten years. Soon after, the film disapeared and will never be seen again…

(except in my freezer! in a sinister voice: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!)

Batman and Agfa-robin (2001, Toronto)

I went there this evening with my friends. What a stunning setting!! The festival (the organizers say its the world’s largest free concert of its kind) is held in Grant Park, with the beautiful Chicago skyline surrounding the show.

Here’s Mary Ellen, Phil, Lynzee and me (I often stay at Phil’s when in Chicago)

and the main stage…

…and now its time to sleep…  I have to get up at 4am and get ready for the weekend’s show…

The building is part of an old military bunker in the Marin Headlands, introduced to me by my sherpas-for-the-night, Jessica Tai and Emily Lam. The Headlands, across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, has many defunct bunkers built from the Civil War, through WWII and the Cold War. These huge, weathered concrete structures and tunnels housed the soldiers and weaponry that protected the narrow passage into the Bay.

The fastest route between LA and the Bay Area is Interstate 5, which runs along California’s Central Valley. I’ve driven this route maybe a dozen times, and at this time of year it is blossoming with green hills and sprouting crops. This massive and incredibly fertile valley is one of the world’s great gardens. A quarter of the food Americans eat is grown in the Central Valley, yet much of the water is delivered by a vast series of canals and dams.

The Central Valley, shot on my way back home

In the afternoon I met one of my collectors whom I’d been wanting to meet for some time. Earl Hamner is the creator/producer of TV’s The Waltons (and later Falcon Crest, plus he wrote many episodes of the original Twilight Zone). I grew up watching the Waltons. It ran for nine seasons, won a ton of Emmys, and drew audiences of 50 million per week, so I’m honored that he has two of my pieces: Alley #40 and Dance of the Spirits.

We sat in his office and talked for 3 hours! It was a wonderful cerebral and goofy conversation. The man is a brilliant and engaging legend, and what a privilege it was to meet him. He sent me an email some time ago with the greatest compliment anyone has given me. He said that looking at my art made him want to live longer, and that this was a feeling a painting had given him only once before, long ago.

Before saying goodbye, I told him I would be shooting alleys that night. He became very concerned, and then fearful for me. I hope you aren’t reading this, Earl…

Last night’s shoot turned into an unbelievable story. After my recent reflections on shooting in Compton, I end up back there walking through its alleys after my companions, Ben Bernstein and Jeff Nelson, say they are okay with it. In fact, like me, they are eager to go there. We head to one of the spots I’d picked out a few days earlier and I set up – its at the intersection of three alleys, far from the street. Thirty minutes later I have to go back to my van to get a light.

As I turn to walk back down the alley, I see Ben and Jeff madly running toward me with my gear. “Open the doors, now!! We gotta get outta here, now!!” Then I see a gang of maybe 15 guys in black hoods chasing them.

I start frantically looking for the keys I’ve just put away. I unlock the doors and throw the gear in. Then we jump in and lock the doors. Moments later, the mob turns the corner and surround us. They’re all yelling at us to get out of the fucking van, and Who the fuck do we think we are. “You in our territory now!”

They are a Latino gang, and like a delusional nut, I’m still holding out hope that I can go back and get the shot. So I roll the window down a bit and tell them (thank god I speak Spanish) “I’m real sorry, I didn’t know this was your territory. I mean no disrespect. I’m just an artist taking pictures.” They lighten up a bit, but then one sticks his nose in, “I wanna see your camera!”

Then the oldest guy, and the only one wearing a shirt (he turns out to be their leader), says “Hey I know you, aren’t you Luis? you work for Ramon. Its Jorge – you remember me?”

I look at him and say, “Yea, that’s me, how you doin?”

He looks around at the members, “Hey I know this guy, he’s alright – es un buen chico. I seen him around.” He puts his arm through the window and we shake hands. He keeps repeating to everyone, “he’s cool, he’s cool,” and the whole mood in the gang changes. Suddenly everyone is all smiles and friendly, and I’m shaking one hand after another.

With some hesitation, I decide to open the door and get out. Jorge gives me a big hug, “How you doin, man, you remember me? Te acuerdas de mi?”

“Of course I do, you crazy guy.” I end up hugging half the guys there. Ben and Jeff come around and we are one big happy family.

Jorge tells me I can do whatever I want – I’m safe here. I’m not sure I want to pull out all my treasured equipment, so I just hang out with them for a while. Minutes later I really do feel we’ve passed that hurdle and everything is cool – and this is my chance to continue my work.

We pull all the gear out and set up again. Jorge decides to hang out, and so do a couple of his blackhoods – he calls them his gangsters.

Fifteen minutes go by, and a cop car rolls in, twenty feet away, around the corner of one of the intersecting alleys, and surprises us.

Two cops jump out screaming and pointing laser guided hand guns at us. I stare down at my chest and see a red dot vibrating. “LET ME SEE YOUR FUCKING HANDS!! PUT YOUR FUCKING HANDS IN THE AIR!!” A minute later, we’ve all got our hands on the hood of the cop car. One cop starts checking around dark corners in the alley, in case someone is hiding. I’m wondering how itchy his finger is, and what a goddam tough job he has, trying to secure these streets night after night. He also takes a closer look at my gear.

When he returns, I’m about to explain what we’re doing, but Jorge – who’s been cool as a cucumber throughout all of this - says, “Hey you guys know Officer Diego – he’s a friend of mine”

The cops suddenly freeze and become a shade more pale. “Ah, ok… sorry – we thought maybe you were up to something.” One cop shakes Jorge’s hand, and they say, ”We’re gonna leave now.” They get into their car and back away. I look at Ben and Jeff and we all have the same thought: “What the fuck just happened?”

I tell Jorge he’s the King of Compton. He says, “and you’re not Luis.” But it doesn’t matter any more. By this point, we’ve become friends, so we just laugh and pat each other on the back.

I finish the exposure, and I tell him there’s one more shot I want to do, 2 blocks away. He says he’ll go there with me. We go and do the next shot, and I’m thrilled cause I have a good feeling about these two images. I tell Jorge I want to send him the pictures, and he gladly accepts. He gives me his address, and phone number. “Anytime you want to come back and do more pictures, give me a call. You’ll be safe here.” He even explains which streets are at the perimeter of his territory, meaning beyond that, I’ll be at the mercy of some other gang. We start wrapping up, and Jorge invites us for a beer. We head to his favourite bar, where we eat and drink and have a good ol time! “Man, is you lucky you look like Luis,” he says. Cheers to that!

Jorge, in white shirt. On his left is one of his gangsters, as he called them. From his right: Ben Bernstein, Jeff Nelson, me, and finally a crazy drunk who happened to stumble by, singing Spanish love songs. Taking the picture is another gangster. Behind Jeff is my camera way up on a tripod, where it was for the last shot.

Broke and recently divorced in the late 90’s, Jeff decides to leave his promising clerical job at Kinko’s near Denver, CO to pursue his dream of being a Hollywood director. He buys a crummy van, which quickly becomes his home as he begins the drive to Los Angeles. Having been told by a friend that writing a script is a good start to becoming a director, Jeff quickly hand writes a first draft of a story on his breaks from the drive. By all accounts, this plan looks headed for disaster.

In L.A. he gets a job at the YMCA where he meets another slacker employee, Travis Romero (who is going shooting with us). After being told by almost everyone that his script sucks, one staff member at the Y reads it and likes it. This staff member, it turns out, is also an intern at a big production studio. He takes Jeff’s one and only handwritten rough draft (no photocopies have been made) and drops it off anonymously on a producer’s desk. This is where the story should end. The producer arrives, sees a crumpled mass of handwritten loose-leaf papers on his desk and groans. What a sorry excuse for a script. Without a second glance, the no-nonsense producer throws this only version of Jeff’s script into the circular file, where it is eventually incinerated and the ashes dumped in a landfill. And thats the end of Jeff’s short-lived Hollywood career. But thats not what happens. The producer actually reads it and LIKES it… a lot! He immediately calls Jeff and buys it for $30,000. A career is born.

Today he easily makes $300K for a script, and this one-time slacker is now a busy man.

So Jeff, Travis and I head off for rundown downtown L.A. to shoot. I get in two good shots, and Jeff takes many pictures of me at work.

Jeff’s photos of me

My camera posing

View from Jeff’s home.

One of the most spectacular scenic drives I have ever taken is Hwy 1, from Carmel, south for 100 miles of incredible Pacific Coast scenery. This winding highway (also called the Cabrillo Hwy) is carved on the edge of the mountains of the Santa Lucia Range. The 2nd picture below is a typical view; the cow is not…

View from the Cabrillo Hwy

Alleys & Fire Escapes, no. 91 – “Mutant”  (2006, St. Louis, MO, 11:45pm)

In 1999, a three mile concrete wall along the St. Louis riverfront (flood gates for the Mississippi River) became the site of the country’s largest graffiti competition: Paint Louis was born. For the next 2 years graff artists came from around the country and transformed this long, grey eyesore into one very long work of art. After the awards were handed out, these artists were eager to continue their craft. They fell upon the city in droves, paint cans in hand, and spray bombed every blank wall they could find. After two years the city had had enough and Paint Louis died a quick death, but not before leaving behind a stunning and colorful legacy. Today, the wall is an on-going site for new, quality graffiti.