Farm Together Now: Cover Gurl

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

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.

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

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

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

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...

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

Dr. Edgar Wayburn: Rest in Peace

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

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

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.

I adore the springtime.

9 Qualities of a Great Photo Assistant

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

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

Tangerines

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

"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

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.

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

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

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

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.