Anne Hamersky

What I Said At the SF Planning Commission In Support of Urban Agriculture Proposal

2011-02-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the SF Planning Commission met to discuss the Urban Agriculture Proposal that will codify for-profit food production in our fair city. While some city bureaucrats worked behind the scenes, others testified in favor of the proposal, and the room was filled beyond capacity with supporters (all wearing green) spilling out into the hall. The SF Planning Commissioners were sympathetic and thoughtful in their questions and concerns... democracy in action.

Here's my public comment. I shortened it while standing at the microphone, and only read the part in bold ('cause by then, everyone else had said everything else).

Madame President, Commissioners:

Thank you for allowing so many of us to speak today in support of the urban agriculture proposal.

My name is Anne Hamersky and I live in Glen Park. I’m a photographer who has focused on food and farming stories for more than ten years. As a member of SF Urban Ag Alliance, I am here to show my support for the urban agriculture zoning proposal along with a few important amendments.

I’ve had the opportunity to visit urban ag efforts, in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago. All of these farms boost their local economies by providing sorely needed green jobs. As well, they mitigate urban decay by beautifying their city’s vacant lots, and enhance their neighborhood communities by being gathering places to educate people about food production. I’ve seen first hand how these food-producing green spaces can be a source for much social, visual, and economic goodness. While all these efforts have great civic benefits, the fact is, all of them are non-profit organizations. I work closely with many non-profits and know that they rely on foundation grant money, donations, and volunteer power. Not the most sustainable revenue stream.

We all care about sustainability, in these days of climate change and dwindling resources. As you know, former Mayor Newsom’s Healthy Food Executive Directive commits to local food production as a path to a more sustainable future. If the City wants to encourage successful, sustainable urban ag, I respectfully ask that you amend the proposal under consideration to create city policy that makes it economically sustainable to grow more food locally. Thank you.

First, I ask that you waive the fence requirement. It is an expensive and unnecessary prerequisite. Small-scale neighborhood farms are often less noisy than a large apartment building. Frankly, I think most people want to see what’s growing in the ground. I would absolutely welcome a green farm operating next door to me.

Second, allow these growers to develop an economy of scale by aggregating their produce and collectively selling it in a central location. Allow them to sell value-added products at this central location, as well. Value-added products are a way for urban farmers to make a go of it, because, simply put, their profit margins are greater. I, myself, want to buy pickles and farm fresh condiments from the source. Why not?

And finally, waive or modify the $300 “change of use” permit fees for urban agriculture businesses. Encourage these urban farmers to go legit. Make it more financially feasible for them to be urban ag trailblazers. We need them to be successful so they can implement the mandate to grow more food right here. As a small business owner in San Francisco myself, who pays the city business tax every year, I support reconsidering this additional permit fee.

These changes to the proposal will encourage more urban ag businesses to get their seeds in the ground. Show the world that San Francisco continues to be forward thinking and innovative, and that we support for-profit, financially-sustainable businesses that grow local food and local economies.

Because we love this town. Thank you.

"Farm Together Now" Spring Events

2011-02-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

Amazing ag books out there these days. All fueling the sustainable food system movement and making it more mainstream. That's the ticket.

At this year's Eco Farm Conference, had the pleasure of signing books together with Novella Carpenter of Farm City fame and Temra Costa, Miss Farmer Jane herself.

Up top, that's my cohort Sarah Henry, Lettuce Eat Kale blogger extraordinaire. (Get your food news from her.) Me, smilin' in the middle. All of us laughing, cuz Novella is a hoot. Thanks, Jennifer Snyder of Clif Bar for snapping the photo! We are each other's doppel(triple)ganger. Long lost cousins, me thinks.

Here's a look at my upcoming dance card. Hope to see you.

Febr 24, 7pm    PeriUrban Agriculture Discussion + Beans and Greens dinner at 18 Reasons

Febr 25, 1pm    Lecture for How-to-Homestead's Melinda Stone's USF Urban Ag class

Febr 25, 7pm    Reading + Signing at beloved Mission Pie

Mar 14, 7pm    Slide show + book signing at the fabulous CUESA with Mark Winne, too

Mar 24, 2pm     Book Signing at the SF Flower + Garden Show with Star Apple Edible Gardens

April 3, 7pm     Benefit slide show + book signing for Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society, my home state!

April 11, 7pm   Slide show at Downtown SF Apple Store + APA

May 7, 7pm      Book signing to benefit Synergy School

See more events at the Farm Together Now spot.

Happy Bees-a-buzzin Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

Michael Pollan selects "Farm Together Now" as his fave food book of 2010

2011-01-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

High Drama: Two hours before our San Francisco book signing at Green Arcade, I saw on Twitter that Michael Pollan selected "Farm Together Now" as his fave food book of 2010. My collaborators Amy, Daniel, Corinne, Brian, and our publisher Chronicle Books were thrilled. I'm most happy that with Pollan's public endorsement, the stories of the good folks in our book will have a wider audience. Folks like Sam Comfort, who raises bees in the Hudson Valley of New York State, not for their honey (though it is delicious) but for their queens.

Applause: Thank you Sam Comfort for your bee-work that builds pollen and thank you Michael Pollan for your word-work that bring us comfort. And sweet success to all who toil for seed and soil.

Happy New Year, 2011.

Alter Ego

2010-08-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

Todd Edelman sends me the best links. Today, I finally caught up with a link he sent a while back, the Denver Post's Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943. Check out these resonant dust bowl imagery from the Library of Congress. This one, my alter ego. Thanks, Todd.

Apples to Onions

2010-08-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Guess which apple and which onion came from my CSA share.

Hint number one: It's fun to get a gob of random produce every week in our CSA bag. No matter what surprise awaits us, it will be in season and small "D" delicious. This year's crop of Gravensteins is just starting. The crunchiest, tartest apple on the plate.

Second hint: One of the (capital "D" delicious) apples came from the Fillmore. At the end of a show there the other night, we showed our teenager the basket Bill Graham always filled with free apples for any hungry hippie to have something to eat. Happily, they still give them out to house audiences. Love the 1960s tradition, but does anyone know the Fillmore's produce buyer these days? Let's get them to buy fresh buy local!

Third hint: The small onions are also crunchier and sweeter than the big kahuna onion.

The Shirt On My Back

2010-08-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

People ask, "What's your most important piece of equipment?"

Of course, there's the fave lens, fave remote, fave whatnot. But during the summer, one of the most important things in my bag is a flimsy, white cowboy shirt. It's the longest lasting sunscreen, mighty delicious air-co on a hot day after I drench it with water, and when it gets too stinky, it's easy to wash and quick to dry. Plus, it weighs nothing. I always travel with three. Without them, I'm an overheated, burned gringa. No good at'all for shooting pics.

This morning, I started packing for my next photo junket to the Four Corners area. Yeah, it's three weeks away, but I saw my white shirts in the closet and got inspired. Pulled 'em out, rolled 'em up, I'm ready to go.

Low Tide

2010-08-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Low tide. My favorite to shoot.

International Museum of Women ~ Please vote ~

2010-08-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Peeps: Please visit the Economica show online at International Museum of Women and "recommend" my pictures of diverse women who grow food around the USA. Merci!

Economica ~ Picturing Power and Potential

2010-08-06T13:42:00.002-07:00

Here I am at the Economica: Picturing Power and Potential opening with one of my subjects, Lady Shanju, originally shot for the SF Victory Garden project. Thank you San Francisco Arts Commission and International Museum of Women for providing the space and sponsorship.

Fab group show. Go see. SF City Hall, lower level. Through September 4, 2010.

The Folks I Get to Meet

2010-07-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

While scouting a Silicon Valley location this week, my tour guide insisted I meet one of the company gurus, Jim Williams. His desk is not full of "junk," thank you. He simply has a big resource pile. OK, a couple big resource piles.

Watermelon (without) Sugar: A Recipe

2010-07-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

In watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar.
-Richard Brautigan, "In Watermelon Sugar"

My family hates when I use the sink as a veggie scrap holding tank. I admit, it doesn't bother me at all; the stuff eventually makes it to the compost bucket.

Here's a particularly happy sink clog before I moved it all to the pail.

A fine and messy recipe:
Watermelon chunks ~ blend, then strain
Lime juice, to taste
Crushed ice, recommended
Sugar, not necessary
Mint sprigs, optional

Olivia

2010-07-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's shoot with the fabo young Olivia Lee, aspiring actress. "She's gonna be big," says we.
Boundless gratitude to Chris McDonald makeup and assistant Stefanie Renee. You guys are the bomba.

Selected for ASMP Best of 2010

2010-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled that my work made it into American Society of Media Photographer's Best of 2010 show. Thanks for the honor, ASMP, and thanks for all you do for us media photogs. Here's what I wrote:

A year ago, my friend Amy Franceschini asked me to shoot some West Coast farms for a book about sustainable agriculture around the United States. Yes, definitely, this is my passion, but I had one request. I wanted to shoot all the farms, across the country. Happily, she gave me the green light and I had my dream project. No need to mention the insane deadline, I was thrilled.

I pieced together a jigsaw puzzle of sixteen farms and 13,000 miles of connecting roads, mapping a big loop around the continental United States. I fit harvest schedules into my own furious timeline, and somehow it worked. I was one happy camper. Literally.

I camped on the banks of a coyote-howlin’ Colorado irrigation ditch, in a candlelit yurt on the side of an Appalachian herb garden, on the dusty floor of a Bakersfield farm workers’ dormitory, and beside a roaring freeway outside Chicago. The miles were fluid, the farmers amazing, the deadline met.

This image is from Joel Greeno’s organic dairy in Kendall, Wisconsin, the last farm on my loop. I followed him up into the haymow, lurching with my tripod over bales of fresh alfalfa. When I saw the cathedral ceiling of the old barn and the way the slats and knotholes filtered light into the dusty air, I clicked for the joy of it. When we were done, I loaded the car, stopped in town, bought a purple Western shirt with pink pearl snap buttons, and drove North.

People Who Volunteer to Dig in the Dirt

2010-07-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sneak peak. More to come.

How to Make (Soup) Stock Video

2010-07-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Melinda Stone for showing "Stock" to the How-to-Homestead crowd at Southern Exposure Gallery.

To save me from the dizzy method of clenching the Flip in my mouth while slicing vegetables, I called on my pal Josie Iselin to shoot some of the footage.

In case you missed the world premiere, here it is. Go ahead, slurp it up.

Farm Together Now: Spring Letter from Joe at Mountain Garden

2010-07-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

Joe Hollis walking through his wasabi patch, high on an Appalachian mountain in Burnsville, North Carolina

Hi Anne,

I'm glad to hear from you. Daniel has alerted me to the book's progress, and I am very much looking forward to seeing it. I looked through the new website and noticed the back-to-back 'gorgeous book' comments. I love the photos you sent of me and Steve and am eager to see what else you've chosen.
There is quite a lot going on here, very productive year so far. Six apprentices plus usually a WWOOFer or two. Best group of apprentices ever. We've got a large food garden planted and moving along with Chinese herb and native wildfood projects. The big excitement at the moment is wasabi: after about 20 years, starting with one plant, I now have about fifty large flowering specimens and a thousand seedlings, and I'm about to launch a wasabi industry in the area. The greenhouses, coldframes and many spots in garden are filled with a beautiful violet-magenta mustard from China which I randomly acquired years ago. The flowers are big and bright and tasty, as are the greens; and this year I'm trying to grow a really big crop of seeds. I think this plant will be in every seed catalog in five years. The apprentices have about finished a new Steve dome, and one is set to move in - he's a mushroom man, so we're growing mushrooms of many kinds all over the place.
This is looking like the year in which many projects which I've been working on for 15-20 years are coming to bearing fruit, and the book will be a big part of the overall Mountain Gardens project coming to fruition.
And it has been the best spring in my memory for the plants: some close shaves, but no killing freezes. Plants I established 25 years ago are going to bear fruit for the first time. I'll write about all this and attach pictures for your blog (and mine) as soon as the spring rush subsides.

Joe

Farm Together Now: Bonsai's Tree

2010-07-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

The view from atop Bonsai's evergreen, and my view of him under the plum, for the Farm Together Now book.
It was the middle of the hottest day of the century. Not having the luxury of golden afternoon light, I was chasing my minuscule noon shadow around the garden at Tryon Life Community, a rural oasis in the middle of Portland, Oregon. Bonsai Matt, a resident at the intentional community, came to my rescue while I was shimmying up the tallest tree to get an establishing shot of the landscape. When my courage came to its end, I handed my 5D off to him and he scampered on up. He sent this note after I told him the news that one of his high angle images got into the book with credit given. wonnnnnnderfulll anne.... thanxomuch for the love and the sweet sweet images... i'm so glad that the picture from the tree will be in there! great work and please, for the love of the children and their children's children's children, keep up your good work...thanks again and much love to you and the gang ~ bonsai!

Farm Together Now: The Sell Sheet

2010-06-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

This just in. The book's getting more and more real.

Curiosity is What We Share

2010-06-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my assistant Garry and I were shooting a tricked out, all electric Mini Cooper developed at the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC Davis for Sierra Magazine.

We were working in a tucked away corner of the university's arboretum, near one of the biggest collection of oaks in the world. We were just wrapping up, when a curious fellow photographer stopped by to look at our 10 foot scrim. I persuaded him to stick around while we gathered our subjects' model releases and said our goodbyes. Then I nabbed this portrait of him with his homemade portable studio rig.

Allan Jones, our new friend here, takes close ups of specimens from the arboretum's oak trees when they blossom once a year. He's adapted a cardboard box to capture these flowering samples bathed in gorgeous scrimmed and bounced sunlight. My kind o' light.

Here's to curious, crazy shooters. Big, small, cardboard, aluminum. We love our gear, we love our light.

Hunter Joerger Teaches Me A Thing or Two

2010-06-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

This year I mentored a student at my son's high school, Mr. Hunter Joerger, while he created his senior signature project.

In the project, Hunter illustrated his neuroscience research about the connection between brain growth and the development of identity with photographic portraits of young children. This week all the graduating seniors celebrated with a school wide party and display of their projects. Hunter's wall of photos rocked the audience. Compassionate, clear, and sensitive, his exhibition was sophisticated and riveting.

Here's my favorite quote from Hunter's paper:
"Photography can be used to examine the root of perception of identity because it can be analyzed both analytically and viscerally. And it is at the connection between the analytical and visceral that the importance of identity and the ability to perceive it can be understood."

Yes, Hunter's paper taught me how the superior colliculi and thalmus collect and pass visual information and non-verbal awareness on to other parts of the brain. But Hunter himself taught me a thing or two about being an educator. Like how much more important it is to listen than talk. That it's far wiser to be patient than insistent. And that there is great benefit in allowing a flower to bloom, rather than tear the petals apart in search of color. A project develops much as the brain itself does. One lives. One learns.

Thanks for the lessons, Hunter. =]

And bravo! Toss your hat into the ring of experts. You da bomb.

Freewheelin' Farm delivering in the City

2010-06-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Freewheelin' Farm's first San Francisco CSA delivery and the strawberries for the record, were scarlet, not red.

Here's beloved Amy helping Anya, a giddy new customer, select her treats for the week.

Heh, San Fran-ola! Sign yourself up here and pick your own bag of treats out at Garden for the Environment, corner of 7th and Lawton. Easy peasy.

Memorial Day: Love, Serve, Remember

2010-05-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Remember what? To love, serve and remember.

Farm Together Now: Strawberry Time Again at Freewheelin' Farm

2010-05-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

It was a year ago I started the Farm Together Now project and circle, circle back around... just turned in the final images to our fabulous designer Brian Scott. Time to celebrate!

It's full-on strawberry season, so I got me a case of organic red juiciness from the Swanton Berry Farm and am gorging myself and goading my family to eat more, more, more with a drippy smile on my face.

Swanton Berry Farm is a story unto themselves. They strive for the complete sustainable package, providing a living wage and health insurance for the farmworkers of their profitable, chemical-free berry business. They have a union contract with their workers, a roadside farm store that houses a museum on the history of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, a successful U-Pick and wholesale operation, topped by a killer view of the vast Pacific Ocean. Check them out on Highway One, south of Pescadero.

One of my favorite local farms is featured in Farm Together Now: Freewheelin' Farm down Swanton Road - Santa Cruz way. I met Amy Courtney back a few years at my first Ecological Farming Associaton conference. Her tiny acre of ocean side heaven was a stop on that year's farm tour.

At that time, she ran the operation by herself mostly, without a tractor, on land loaned by Jim Cochran, (sustainable agriculture hero and owner of Swanton Berry Farm) and delivered her farm fresh deliciousness by bicycle into Santa Cruz.

Now, Amy has two partners, Kirstin Yogg and Darryl Wong and they've added a tractor or two, 8+ acres in production, and a brand new CSA in San Francisco. Heads up San Francisco! Starting June 1... next week... they'll be delivering to your house by bike, or dropping off the goods at Garden for the Environment on 7th and Lawton for you to pick up. Sign up now. You'll love these berries!

Freewheelin' posted a gob of the photos I shot on their farm. Check them out.

Read my older post about Freewheelin' Farm's annual fundraiser art party here.

Strawberries + bikes + documentary photography + public art. Ain't nothin' finer in my field of dreams.

Farm Together Now: Endpaper scrapbook

2010-05-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Brian Scott of boon design is doing an amazing job of making my photos sing together now. (And "now" is the operative 'cuz we are goin' to press...soon...now.)

Yesterday, I received this mock up of the book's front and back cover endpapers. Meaning, I just found out we are including even MORE images of the inspiring folks from around the country. Thrilled? Ja mon. Sixty-four more images. Who cares about a tight deadline? I'm all over it.

Info on the book here.

Farm Together Now: Cover Gurl

2010-04-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Happiness Alert: We're closing in on the final galleys of the Farm Together Now book, yippy ... and here's a sneak peek of the cover. It will hit the bookstores in December, but I can't help myself. Look at this little piece of color, color, color ...

Earth Day 2010: Beauty Below Me

2010-04-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

Beauty before me, I walk with.

Beauty behind me, I walk with.

Beauty above me, I walk with.

Beauty below me, I walk with.

Beauty all around me, I walk with.

~ Navajo Night Chant

Farm Together Now: They are all me.

2010-04-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

The design process for the "Farm Together Now" book is quickly moving along. Right now, I'm taking a break from digging through my notes, double checking the spelling of names, and writing photo captions. And a couple days ago, while doing a final edit of pix for the book's endpaper, these two faces popped up in combination on my Lightroom screen. The photo of Julian, a Wisconsin organic dairyman paired itself with Chris, a vegan food security worker in Atlanta. Some things you just can not plan. Sometimes the clouds open up and illuminate the landscape. Or the brain.

All portraiture references the photographer, quivers with the tone of our own vocal chords, pounds out our own heart beat. We tell other people's stories, but always by framing the light bouncing off our own retina. More than mere "style," a photograph is both a document of the relationships we forge with our subjects and a thinly-disguised self-portrait. Me thinks.

Leonard Freed put it this way: "I was here. I was hot. I was cold. I was happy. I was angry. I experienced this. It took time. It is a part of my life. I remember the situations. It is not just a photograph, but a life experience. They are my people, my characters. They are all me."

Julian and Chris and Jim and Lane, Devon, Joel, Kirstin, Sam...they are all me.

George Steinmetz's horizon line

2010-04-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

Great article in this week's New Yorker about George Steinmetz, the first photographer I ever assisted and also one of the hardest working, and most hilarious, guys out there. George taught me how to load a Nikon in an instant, pack a flight case to the max and run for the final boarding call. He flys an ultralight paraglider over the sunset sands of the Sahara and beyond, shooting down from as high as 1000 feet. He says the best stuff is often at 500 feet, following Robert Capa's advice, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."

I shot this pic of him when we had a day off at Barton Springs in Austin, Texas. We were shooting oil field wildcatters, usually at sunset, and back then, from the ground.

Cheers, George! Here's to two shrimp and a granola bar on the next red eye. Long may you fly at just the right height. See George's beautiful work.

Sky in the Pie: Next Gen

2010-04-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Sky in the Pie space, which I started back in 2007, continues on the corner of 25th and Mission. Sam Slater (on the left) created "The View From Here" by teaching high schoolers at Pie Ranch about photography and public art. He encouraged the students to work with "the camera as tool, much the way a farmer uses tools to harvest a crop that has been planted and nurtured." He continues, "Each week students took 35mm manual cameras into their own environments, with the goal of harvesting their perspectives and offering them up the their community." The results of their explorations can be seen outside Mission Pie.

Javi and Andy Gutierrez, the coolest brothers evah continue to serve up deliciousness inside the sweet shop. Their seasonal offering is Shaker Lemon pie and ....yummy... is it a winter winner. I worked with Javi on the Sky in the Pie mural series and I taught Andy down at Pie Ranch myself. Special brothers, those two. Hearts as golden as they come.

Urban Farmer

2010-03-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Smack dab between a whirring freeway and a public housing development lies one of San Francisco's laragest urban farms. I've been going over to Alemany Farm for inspiration and to understand the nature of the volunteer. The Wall Street Journal just profiled them as an example of how urban farms can not make up the difference for land lost to development. Praise to those that gotta try.

Something new, old, windy, blue...

2010-03-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was in Missouri and Nebraska, and the wind did not stop.

Dr. Edgar Wayburn: Rest in Peace

2010-03-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ed Wayburn passed away this weekend. This monster conservationist preserved 100 million acres of land in the San Francisco Bay Area. Think of him next time you walk along Ocean Beach, Tennessee Valley, Crissy Field... pretty much over any hill or valley in the Bay Area. Our divine spot on this planet would look very different without his lifelong efforts.

I took this photo of Dr. Wayburn for the cover of his memoir, "Your Land and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist." He liked the spot on top of Mt. Tamalpais where I took him. Looking out over the land he said, "This is where it all began; the drive to save the land started here and we just kept moving South."

Hats off to you, Dr. Wayburn. We thank you kindly.

Givers Gain

2010-03-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

The Walter and Elise Haas Fund asked me to create a piece for their office space and I decided to document their philanthropic work. Easy to say, but because they support so many amazing efforts here in the Bay Area, it was challenging to settle on which threads to pick up and follow.

Speaking of process, last night at an ASMP gathering, Geri Meiglicz of Story4 talked about how the time spent with any nonprofit client, determining which subject best illustrates their storyline, is very likely the most important aspect of making successful multimedia collaborations. Journalism 101 meets Journalism 901.

The great folks at JFCS-EB, SFNCT, RISL, SFCMC, ANA helped me find the people that told their particular storylines. A shout out to all of you. And another shout out to Frances Phillips and everyone at Haas, Sr. for your support in making this all happen. Thank you.

Cantilever Project has been up on the west wall of the fund's San Francisco headquarters for the past two years. If you are near the San Francisco embarcadero this month, pop into One Lombard and take a look. The piece is coming down this month and the prints will be donated to each of the nonprofits.

Full circle. Givers gain.

Farm Together Now, Oakland

2010-03-02T11:06:00.001-08:00

First stop in the Farm Together Now odyssey: over the Bay Bridge, into West Oakland. City Slicker Farms. They collaboratively build backyard gardens and distribute fresh produce for free throughout their cash-strapped neighborhood.

Serendipity happens: I craved a high vantage point to shoot the corner where City Slicker was born, et voila! Here comes a gentleman with a dump truck he is donating to the cause. Up I go with two cameras and a big load o' gratitude.

J'aime le printemps.

2010-02-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

I adore the springtime.

9 Qualities of a Great Photo Assistant

2010-02-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, in the proverbial dawn's early light, my assistant Brad Wenner and I drove spring-green Hwy 280 to a shoot in Palo Alto. Cruising south in my MBZ bomber under blue sky after rain storm ~ spray of pink clouds, we spotted a crescent-shaped haiku: a most perfect arc drawn by a most perfect compass. And I realized it was the last day of ox-year! This little beauty of an orb was ushering in the tiger-year new moon of today.

Our shop talk was silenced by the sight of this dainty white line, and we were, like, "When was the last time you saw an old moon in a clear sky at dawn?" Made me think about what I look for in a photo assistant. Weird, but true.

So, here's my list-in-progress.

My perfect photo assistant...
1) knows more than I do about some stuff, and doesn't hesitate to share.
2) does odd duties with a glad attitude because we are in this together and because I always pay day of shoot.
3) will work to the cliff of big hunger, and carries condensed calories in this eventuality.
4) anticipates my needs to the point of being psychic.
5) makes their own art, in whatever form (being a voracious reader of literature counts).
6) has upper body strength.
7) is a great conversationalist (see number 5) while traveling to and from, but is quiet during shoots.
8) arrives exactly on time, not early or late.
9) is a master of the Easy Hang (see number 7, then times it by an airplane ticket and a rental car), with the capacity to share spiritually-uplifting moments that happen randomly along the way.

Yesterday, at the sight of the fingernail clipping of an old moon, Brad and I both kind of drew in our breath. The sound of a good assistant.

Gung Hei Fat Choy to the great assistants of my past/present/future. You make me look good, and you are Masters of the Easy Hang.

All you future assistants out there, send me your resume. Seriously.

Yippy! New Site Launched

2010-02-03T09:20:00.001-08:00

Yippy! New Site Launched yesterday.
Thank you Christie of Super Natural Design.

Tangerines

2009-12-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

Moderated a panel on Freelancing and Entrepreneurship at the SFBAPPA Multimedia Day this weekend with cohorts Laura Morton, Jan Sturmann, and Geri Migielicz. When our back-to-back sessions were over, I gave everyone on the panel a tangerine with leaves, a symbol of long life and prosperity. Just what every freelancing entrepreneur needs, eh?

APA Something Personal 2009

2009-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

"Harvest Athlete" moved through the grapes at the speed of wine.

Even if I wasn't the newest board member of the SF Chapter of Advertising Photographers of America, I'd still say that one of the best holiday parties is APA's Something Personal show. This weekend, the creative mob gathered at Left Space Studios and it was cheek to jowl. Thanks to Lamborn Family Vineyard for the harvest day photo op + the case of wine generously/deliciously donated to the party. Lift your glass to the gift economy. Cheers!

Avedon Heart Platon

2009-12-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Happily, I caught the retrospective of Richard Avedon's work at the SFMoMA before it closed this week. Proof again that he continues to shine as a genius of the large print paired with the small gesture.

A self-portrait/triptych, shot near the end of his creative life, continues to fuel my mind. I follow his eyes and hands. From left to right, Avedon leads me from subconscious "huh?", to conscious consideration, and finally to laser focus. His hands, moving from pockets, up to fingers nervously fiddling, settle in the third pose with fingers solidly intertwined. For me, his final hand gesture is a yogic mudra of his wholehearted engagement with the world. Standing in front of these images, I was struck with a lightning bolt of emotion, feeling the presence of RA himself, as if I was being considered as subject, being observed and distilled down to some essence of Self. At the tail end of the last room at this closing exhibit, I heard the photographer's voice, " I saw. I recorded. I continue."

Richard Avedon's influence continues in the work of Platon, whose arresting portrait series of world leaders at the United Nations is in this week's New Yorker Magazine. Be sure to listen to Platon tell how he set up his rig outside the General Assembly podium steps for five days, worked with as little as three seconds per person while having to sneak bites of energy bars out of his camera bag. Fascinating, humanizing, with eyeball-close proximity... Avedon, looking down from his tripod in the clouds, is lovin' 'em.

Gratitude is the emotional state of abundance.

2009-11-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

Editing work for the new web site, I ran across this old image of cloistered nuns in West Springfield, MA, shot for Yankee Magazine back in, I dunno, 2000? On it's way to the cutting room floor, it will be my Thanksgiving offering.

Signifying Punctum: That big orange flame on the match. It's shape is a mirror image of Sister Mary's smile. She was a favorite. Even though they were a centuries-old conservative community and I probably disagreed with most of their stands, we shared some good laughs. When Sr. Mary and I walked around the grounds together, me photographing her, she told me of her relationship with her Lord. "People don't talk about it much, but let me tell you, it's full of passion." You go, Sista.

I'm grateful for the work I do. For the people I meet. For each click of the shutter. And for F+F, Family and Friends. Happy Thanksgiving, 'cause giving thanks makes you happy. Bye for now, and thanks for stopping by.

Beauty, Brains and Brawn

2009-11-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago, I photographed Stanford Women's Rowing head coach, Yaz Farooq for the Boston Globe. Last week, Yaz asked me to come back down and shoot her crew to celebrate the fact that this year, the ladies won the Division One NCAA Championship.

They had beauty, brains + brawn... a wicked combo. That's me on the ladder, doing the group shot and not getting electrocuted in the mist, with survival documentation by my assistant, Garry Belinsky. Then we laid down some sepia-toned fun at the end of the boat dock. And lemme tell ya, these girls had no trouble holding the pose. No trouble at all.

Homage to a Platte River Outtake

2009-11-13T12:35:00.001-08:00

Today, I'm editing images from the "Farm Together Now" book for my web site. Sometimes you just gotta edit old ones out. Glad they invented blogs so this one from 2002 can live on in the world.

I was driving over a bridge in Central Nebraska when I saw a man on horseback in the dry riverbed. Stopped (illegally), yelled down and asked my new friend Bill to pause while I dug in the trunk, got out the 4x5 camera and sheets of C-41 film. After snapping six or so sheets of ready load, Bill yelled up his address, I hollered "Thank you!", jumped back in the car and kept driving north on Highway 14.

I love this work.

OK, back to the digital light table.

Forthcoming Book "Farm Together Now": Sneak Peek Begins Here + Now

2009-10-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

This summer I traveled 13,000 miles and made an equal amount of digital captures of farms and farmers around the United States for the book "Farm Together Now," in collaboration with writers Amy Franceschini and Daniel Tucker, to be published by Chronicle Books in late 2010.

Here's our elevator speech:

"We want to change the way the food system works!

"Farm Together Now," part-travelogue, part-oral history, part-creative exploration of food politics, will introduce readers to twenty groups working in agriculture and sustainable food production in the U.S.

Throughout 2009 we visited farms from coast to coast, talking to farmers about their engagement in sustainable food production, public policy and community organizing efforts. Interviews and photo essays with each farm/garden/project will illustrate the inspiring histories, unique characters and everyday struggles of life on these farms. It is through sharing diverse voices from the contemporary farm that this book will inspire and cultivate a new wave of agrarians. Half of the authors' profits will be put into a fund to encourage like-minded documentary projects."

The manuscript is with our divine editor Amy Treadwell, and Brian Scott of Boon Design has the 300 photos comprising my A and B edit. The ball is out of my court! Galley proofs are coming soon... whew, I can breathe out and tell you a story or two.

First came The Map.

My inspired collaborators, Amy and Daniel poured over the possibilities, I chimed in with some suggestions from my home state of Nebraska and here's what the route ended up looking like. A big swoop through most of the country (sorry, Texas and Alaska and....)

First stop, Oakland, California.

53 Degrees at Carlon Falls

2009-06-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

Woo whee! Fifty three degrees of chilly bikini.

In the high Sierras two days ago, I cleared my head for tomorrow's road trip. Yes, the moment comes when you find the will to dive in and swim like you mean it. I sucked up icy buckets of courage inside the cave below Carlon Falls, under the curtain of surging, tumbling water force and said, "Fill me up. Let's go. I'm ready." Son Josef, a budding videographer and I will travel across the country documenting sustainable farms for the Agricultlore Book Project. We're diving in... But first, to finish packing.

2009 PathStar Workshop Announcement

2009-06-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

"Tony" from by Unnikrishnan Raveendranathan from our "I Felt Like a Thousand Food Stamps" 2008 group show

Through Fotovision, a group dedicated to advancing documentary photography and storytelling, I'll be leading an "Assignment Shooting" workshop this September. We'll be following a group of Lakota Sioux youth as they train for a swim from Alcatraz. Here's an older blog post about last year's workshop. Sign yourself up. As I say in the blurb, it will be challenging, fast-paced and fun. Any questions?

Adm Golub Inspires Me

2009-06-11T22:23:00.001-07:00

With inner-arms that say Love + Truth, Adm Golub inspires me. And he knows code.

Press Conference at the Compost Heap

2009-03-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

It's happening... Garden on the South Lawn of the White House!

Request for Proposals

2009-02-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

First Annual Call for Proposals
SKY IN THE PIE PUBLIC ART OPPORTUNITY

Eligibility: Professional artists residing in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Budget: No direct funding provided to artist.

Project size/media: 8’ x 8’ two-dimensional digital print or painted media. Artist is responsible for producing and installing artwork. Painted media must be assembled off site and attached to and removed from existing wooden surface. Digital print may be attached directly over existing media.

Location: Existing outdoor mural space on the 25th Street side of Mission Pie Shop, 2901 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Number of proposals to be selected for 2009: Three.

Duration and timing of project display: Three months each, beginning on September 21, December 21, 2009, and March 21, 2010.

Areas of interest: Community, food systems, urban-rural connections, sustainability, agriculture, urban farming, seasons, nature, place.

Form of proposal: One page project statement describing up to five versions of one idea. Include link to artist’s Website and up to five 8” x 8”, 72 dpi jpegs. Address how you will install and de-install your project.

Application deadline: March 15, 2009, midnight. (At this point, apply for an extension, if needed.)
Email with subject line “Sky in the Pie 2009” to skyinthepieprojects@gmail.com.
Selected artists will be notified on April 1, 2009.

Note: A local, large-scale digital printing resource is Hawkins Communications,
Chris Hawkins, (415) 362-4295, http://www.hawkcom.com.

Victory Gardeners

2009-02-01T14:06:00.001-08:00

Photographing urban food growers in their Victory Gardens this week and sampling their raw and spicy mustard greens. Here's number one of fifteen...

Happy New Year

2009-01-24T16:52:00.001-08:00

"America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations." -Barak Obama, 1/20/09

English Language Learners

2008-12-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Saints and angels, the teachers of the world.

I Felt Like A Thousand Food Stamps

2008-11-23T01:28:00.001-08:00

I swim in Aquatic Park with the Dolphin Club, and through the divine plenty of the women's sauna, I overheard talk about a nonprofit that does amazing work with Native Americans from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and thought, that's my AAU Environmental Portraiture class's next assignment. One google search and one phone call later, we had ourselves some real life to document.

PathStar sponsors Ogalala Sioux youth and adults to come to San Francisco's South End Rowing Club to train for one intense week. And ultimately, to swim from Alcatraz. The island prison, with its historic and frustrated AIM occupation in 1969, is a mile from shore, full of swift-running ocean currents, salty tides and a very deep bottom. But steeped with motivation to lead themselves and their tribe toward health and survival, all of this year's participants bravely made it to shore. When my student, Kevin Hill (light blue shirt, above) asked his subject, Alcapone White Calf, about his successful swim from Alcatraz, Al answered, "I felt like a thousand food stamps." The quote, that speaks so poetically about poverty and joy, became the title of our show, our document of the 2008 PathStar swimmers.

Last night, with the handball court banging through the plate glass window next to the happy hour bar, we drilled nary a hole in the venerable 1870's wood structure, clipped the 13x19" images onto wire wrapped around existing screws, and toasted Dr. Nancy Iverson, PathStar's founder.

This year's SF Chronicle story.
Darcy Padilla's images from Pine Ridge.
Web site of Bill McLeod (peach shirt, above), a great photographer-pal and South End rower.
More student images from this project.

Oui, on peut

2008-11-23T01:01:00.001-08:00

Dirk Powell (above and in post below), his lovely wife Christine Balfa, and other Cajun musicians campaign for BHO at the Whirlybird in Opelousas, Louisiana. I still feel tingly about our "Oui, on peut" history. Could not resist embedding this upswell of blue support from a most Southernly red state.

The video recalls a November back aways, shelling pecans with the Balfa cousins, on Dirk and Christine's wide porch, looking out at the bayou a hundred feet down the front yard. We made pecan pralines for dessert to eat after our pot o'gumbo Thanksgiving dinner. And the next night, Dirk and Christine's band, Balfa Toujours played a bar gig in Bazile, Louisiana, exactly like the vibe above. The Cajun Hall of Fame honored Christine's daddy, Dewey Balfa, that night, and I got spun around the dance floor by a handsome, slicked back man with a sparkly string tie on, while my Scott sat in with the band.

Musicians, a noble breed of Community Organizers.

The Joan Baez Band

2008-11-23T00:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot I did of Joan in her front yard for the Boston Globe Magazine.
(The goddess, diva, leftie sleeps in a tree loft on dry nights.)

Scott's friends Todd Phillips, Dirk Powell and John Doyle
backed up Joan Baez last night.
John's persuasive melodic percussive guitar,
Dirk's downbeatin' creamy bayou fiddle,
Todd's oxblox acoustic electric bass,
like smooth caramel pouring out-the-kettle.

While-they-tune patter from Joanie about
our recent election night, when
she and this band were outside D.C.,
in Alexandria, Virginia,
in their hotel rooms,
in their safari bathrobes,
when they saw the
yes-we-did news
on the hotel telly.
"Let's get a cab and drive to the White House!" cried Joan.
Off they went, telling the taxi driver to,
please by all means, lay on your horn.

Dirk, after show packing up, being his own crew,
says to us, "It's like seeing everything she marched for come true."

Joan Baez, salty singer said to the ovation,
"I was never in it for the money, but I love the adulation."
The musicians glowed in the lights of the stage.

Callie Shell

2008-11-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Check out these shots of BHO by photojournalist Callie Shell. Brava!

I'm Not Blind, I Just Can't See

2008-11-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

Celebrated the disability civil rights movement last weekend by documenting the World Institute on Disability's 25th birthday party. The Blind Boys of Alabama were the star attraction and they worked everyone into a sweat with their gospel funk. We ALL needed a cool drink of water after the show, especially the men in red.

Hello Bianca Sparta: Ars Laboris

2008-11-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

My year long Cantilever Project
is going up at the Walter and Elise Haas Fund

and Bianca Sparta has a thing or two to teach me
about installing a wall of photos.
Thanks for keeping it real and making it level
drummer, rocker, exhibition technician, all-around positive gurl.
Hello Bianca Sparta. This Bianca Sparta.

Hunters Point Gets Out the Vote

2008-11-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

Email from Time Magazine, election day:

Can you go out and shoot some enterprise photos?
Yes I can.

Call to James Bryant of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute:
Can I come along on your Get Out the Vote in Hunters Point Bayview?
Yes you can.

Mothers, daughters, sons and neighbors.
First time voters, long time poll workers.
Golden day at Double Rock, Civic Center, Bret Harte School,
Market Street, Third and Palou, Oakdale Avenue.
Yes we can.

The Content of their Character

2008-11-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character; I have a dream...." Amen.

Election Day: Get Your Vote Out

2008-11-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Had the chance to photograph Barak Obama for SEIU way back when he was one of many Democratic primary candidates. Even though I was leaning toward Bill Richardson at that point, I was impressed by his genuine concern for Miss Pauline, Mr. John and their families. Get Your Vote Out Today.

I Like Pie, I Like Obama

2008-10-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Thank-a-Farmer Day

2008-10-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

Thank-a-Farmer Day at Mission Pie details.
Murale Numero Cuadro will be unveiled at 1:30pm, November 1st.
Come for the pie, stay for the sky.

Turn the car around.
Low sun behind coastal fog.
Equinox darkening the sky already.
Brussel sprout stalks, two dollar honor system.
Biggest pumpkin I can lift, hobbling toward Victoria's trunk.
I thank the farmer, I praise the harvester.
I praise the hands, I praise the gloves.
What Mayan blood moved this pyramid of imagination?
I can barely carry this load.
Victoria laughs and lifts.
I praise. I praise.

Cantilever Project Goes Live Today

2008-08-06T22:15:00.001-07:00

When Do You Bake?

2008-08-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

It was a fun party on Sunday. Thanks for the videoooooo, Dave Nold.

Music, Memory, Madness

2008-07-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Past tense: In the 1990s, I read Chris Hedges' daily New York Times dispatches from Yugoslavia while I nursed our newborn boy, my grounded career as a photojournalist silently juxtaposed to Srebrenica's horrific mass graves. I wished I could cover the war in Bosnia, even while I was safe and content on the couch, listening endlessly to Kate Rusby and watching Josef grow.

Present tense: Adm and I are producing Enisa's story of coming to America from Bosnia, distilling her courage and strength into a tight two-minute narrative. Simultaneously, a few days ago, big news of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's arrest after living openly for 13 years in Belgrade, disguised as Dr. David, a new age healer. I contacted Enisa for her reactions. She said, in her beautiful Bosnian accent, that the arrest was good news but that it stirred up a thousand bad memories.

While researching music for Enisa's piece, my friend Lucija Hadziselimovic gave me beaucoup leads, she being a veritable idea faucet. Through the winding path of discovery and grief, I found this tonic for my sorrow.

When We Dream Together

2008-07-12T16:14:00.001-07:00

Inspired ideas and living, breathing leadership at the Victory Garden planting today. Amy Franceschini, humble genius and brilliant curator of the project (in pink above), quoted a Brazilian proverb while dedicating the public art + garden installation: “When we dream alone it's just a dream, but when we dream together we can turn it into reality.” Willow Rosenthal of City Slickers on far right, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse + Edible Schoolyard with the dark shades and Gavin Newsom with trowel. I came to plant the curly kale, the broccoli and the sunflowers. It was a great photo op for the full media wolf pack and me with 12 frames left on my son's disposable plastic camera in my back pocket. Sometimes all that matters is where you stand.

Neighbors, Love, Courage, History

2008-07-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

I rolled down the window of the bio-diesel as handsome neighbor, Brad was walking his dogs. He said, "Our party tomorrow? I'll tell you what's REALLY going to happen." As soon as he spilled the beans that he and Michael were going to surprise all 100+ guests at their annual Fourth of July bash and have State Assemblyman Mark Leno marry them legally in our great state of California, I was like, "And I'll photograph it?"

In Leno's nuptial speech, he insisted that he fought for the word "marriage" because everyone, gay, straight, or gender non-specific, was entitled to give and receive love in full measure. A human need. Beneath it all. "Mazeltov," he declared. Cue the DJ.

Mural #3 + Pie Contest #2

2008-07-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

Full Event Details.
In brief:
Mural #3 Unveiling
Sunday, August 3rd
2:00 - 5:00pm
at Mission Pie.

Music by old time
duo Susan + Sarita.
Baking demo by Joe the Baker.
Sidewalk chalk for the kiddos.

Pie Baking Contest #2 with returning MC Nathan Lynch. Submit your entry by 3:30pm. Spread the word, and roll
your own.

Junot Diaz: History is Here

2008-07-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

After returning from a work junket to the Caribbean, my darling handed me a book, and said "You'll like this." Historic, erotic, heroic, what else? Soulful, violent, disturbing, tragic, sadistic, comedic, pure art. From the first sentence of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" to the final fiery word, the muscular vernacular style pinned me to the page and I'm not the only one.

Below, during a non-brief reading of his 2008 Pulitzer prize winning book, author Junot Diaz discusses living with a dictatorship hidden in plain sight, how history is unspoken but present in the scars on his mother's back, and comic books.

Schlomo the Love Sponge

2008-06-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Horn blower,
cheerleader,
Bard reader,
ring leader,
love sponge,
funkateer,
fire walker,
temple builder,
love seeker,
booty shaker,
mighty, mighty
mitzvah maker,
our beloved Schlomo Waxler,
rest in peace.

To Do Good Work

2008-06-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last night, an art reception at the new location of the 40-year old Freight and Salvage included images I shot of the awesome Chris Thile, the royal Taj Mahal, and the dazzling Patty Griffin....

....Later, I toasted three climate change activists, the current winners of the Project Slingshot Award with my buddy Jennifer Snyder and her co-workers at Clif Bar. The grantees big plans for the summer? Jesse will study an off-the-grid neighborhood in Portland, Oregon; Maya will build a rooftop garden at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, and Richard will produce five TV spots on nationwide youth activism. Ah, to do good work.

Enisa and Her Mother

2008-06-06T10:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I completed shooting a year-long project documenting the work of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. It's been amazing to bear witness to the love that drives so many nonprofits to do their deep and lasting community work day in and day out. Here's a shot of Enisa, a social worker, and her mother, refugees from Srebrenica, Bosnia. The audio capture was intense. Tears flowed from all of us. Husband gone. Brother gone. Dearest cousin gone. House in flames. Concentration camp escape. Lived as refugees in Montenegro, Macedonia, Austria, Berlin, and finally California. Rebuilding their lives as Americans. Helping countless other Bosnian refugees. Heros living among us, in spite of their ghosts. Or perhaps because of them.

Puerto Rico Frenzy

2008-06-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Traveled to San Juan last week with two other fab shooters to document an extravagant bat mitzvah complete with amazing merengue bands, acrobats and choreographed floor show. While editing my 1,500 pix, this frame rose from the depths of a collective, swirling throng. Here's to the power of passion, the joy of the circle, the frenzy of the hora.

A good photo is taken. A great photo is grooved. L'chaim!

Sidewalk Reception May 17, 1-4pm

2008-05-06T19:36:00.001-07:00

Sidewalk Reception for Mural #2
Saturday, May 17, 1-4pm
2901 Mission at 25th Street
Outside Mission Pie Bakery

Have a piece of Shaker Booty Lemon Pie while you're at it.

Video for Javier

2008-05-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

In honor of one of my accomplices on the Sky in the Pie project, Javier Gutierrez, I post this video.

A talented young photographer and student at the SF Art Institute, Javier grew up two blocks from our project site. Equal parts creativity and warmth, his disarming smile made many locals curious about what the heck we were up to. His soft-spoken manner soon had them willing to answer our ten questions and pause for a photo.

Thanks for your hard work and big heart, Javi. And thanks for jumping on the 14 Mission bus so we could keep on interviewing that one guy with the pork pie hat. Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Sky in the Pie Mural Project: This Sums It Up

2008-04-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

Rest in Peace

2008-04-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

One of the memorable people we photographed and interviewed was tragically killed this month in a senseless freeway shooting. Even in the short hour we knew him, my assistant, Javier and I were struck by his generous spirit and the love he had for his family, his community, and his world. After he left with his two beautiful sons in tow, we both looked at each other and said, "Wow. There goes a super cool guy." May Luis "Al" Solari rest in peace.

Donations to the Solari family can be sent to:
Lilia Solari Family Benefit Account
A.G. Edwards-Wachovia Bank
456 Montgomery, 16th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104-9763

Read the SF Chronicle story

Numero Dos detail

2008-04-28T23:29:00.001-07:00

Mural Numero Dos

2008-04-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

After four graffiti-free months, numero uno finally got tagged. Oh well, it was time for a fresh mural anyway.

Numero dos asks the question, "Where is the farm in your family?" and in talking with the people at 25th and Mission streets, we discovered some had family farms in places as far-flung as Korea, Senegal, El Salvador, Slovakia, Morocco, Ireland, and York County, Nebraska.

Even if global mobility is vast and fast, most of us have a settled farmstead in our past. I want one now.

Thanks to Bill Cleary for the installation balancing act, Christie Rixford for the design hours, and Chris Hawkins for the print job. Couldn't have done it without y'all.

Sky in the Pie Mural #1

2007-12-06T12:58:00.000-08:00

Last week the first Sky in the Pie mural went up at 25th and Mission. I was helped by teens with a drill, a ladder, a lot of rope, and muscles. Up it went. The previous month, my crew and I surveyed one hundred people in the neighborhood about food and farming. Mural #1 has eight of these folks along with their answers to our icebreaker question: What is your favorite kind of pie? At the opening, an urban barn dance inside the Mission Pie shop spilled out onto the sidewalk. Some fiesta. Yeehaw. Three more murals to come.

Ag Flag

2007-11-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I participated in the 2nd Annual Farm Art Show at Freewheelin' Farm on the North Coast of Santa Cruz county. On a one acre plot, Amy Courtney and Kirstin Yogg (top photo) harvest enough organic produce for 38 families and deliver it all by bicycle. Post-
petroleum farming, yee haw.

Answers to the question, "If you could thank a farmer..." from my current Sky in the Pie Mural Project, inspired me to create a Tibetan-style prayer flag for farmers. Freewheelin' Farm guests were invited to add their own "ag flag" to this gratitude clothesline. At sunset we left the installation to fray and fade, a reminder of the Great Impermanence, with a magnificent Pacific Ocean
as backdrop.

If you could thank a farmer...

2007-10-31T14:09:00.001-07:00

The Sky in the Pie Mural Project proceeds apace. Last week we finished asking 100 people near the corner of 25th and Mission Streets in San Francisco ten questions about food, farming, and pie. We're done with the research phase. Let the production begin!

This is Jeff, a local tatoo artist, whose family used to farm in Sicily. He was the second person we interviewed. We gave him a piece of pie and a cup of coffee.

SF Arts Commission Grant Awarded

2007-10-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

I received a 2007 Cultural Equity Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to create the Sky in the Pie Mural Series outside San Francisco's Mission Pie Bakery and Cafe. Cafe owner Karen Heisler and her partners at Pie Ranch connect urban and rural communities through their work/study programs and they serve some of the best pie this side of my Grandma Alice's basement.

Since the fall equinox, I've been a slave to the fleeting light of autumn. My crew Javier, Ammo, JJ and I have been taking pictures and asking questions about food and farming of people we meet around 25th and Mission Streets. From this raw data, I'll create a book and five murals between now and the 2008 summer solstice. We are up to 75 portraits and are aiming for 100 before daylight savings time kicks in on November 4th. Stay tuned.

Her favorite kind of pie? "Any type of pie."

Neelam's Daughter/ Mark's Pie

2007-10-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

To combat my despair when George Bush was re-elected, I dug deeper into food and farming projects, finding solace and wisdom in the simple fact that we all must eat. Neelam's Daughter is one of my favorite outtakes from the Produce to the People feature for Sierra Magazine. I was trying to keep up with former Black Panther Neelam Sharma and her crew as they lay irrigation pipe for the apple tree saplings they had planted in a schoolyard in South Central LA.

Mark's Pie came out of a Sierra Club Building Bridges to the Outdoors commission. I taught photography to a group of high school students who were learning about their food system by planting, growing, harvesting, baking, serving, and eating their way through pie.

Haas Grant Awarded

2007-10-08T23:00:00.001-07:00

Working title: The Cantilever Project. I was awarded an Individual Artist's Commission from the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. I am producing large scale photographs for their San Francisco headquarters and a multimedia piece for their Web site. To document the work of such a wide-ranging, philanthropic community builder... What a challenge. What an honor.

You Can't Do It Alone, a 2003 bus shelter poster project supported by the Haas Fund, was displayed during Breast Health Awareness Month exactly four years ago. I collaborated with the Margie Cherry Complementary Breast Health Center, writer Laurie Wagner and Supernatural Design on this one.