Pinhole Photography

I don’t know what it is about low-tech, but I’m there. It’s often the beginnings of an artists work, or trend in technology and culture that are more interesting to me than the periods that followed. There’s beauty in the basics. Case in point - Pinhole Photography. It’s just a hole in a box, but add camera and film technology, and a creative world opens up.

Pinhole photography is more versatile than ever. An array of cameras have been produced over the years, but recently a new generation of artists have emerged, pushing the genre forward with their own vision and new custom built designs. - see Flickr. Still, the art centers on its essential and beautiful concept - forever mysterious, Nature’s Eye shapes untamed light into renderings of the physical world.

The attached photos are the first in a new series of pinhole images I’ve been working on for several months. “Alameda Under Rain” is a one minute exposure made with a Holga 120 Panoramic Pinhole, as were “Cathedral, Oakland” and "Three Ships".

Super 8 Movies

For about 10 years, between junior high through college, my career goal was to be a filmmaker. When I was 7 my father gave me a still camera for Christmas, which began training my eye, and took pictures from time to time with whatever film I could afford. At 13, my mother gave me a Super 8 movie camera, and it was destiny from there. During this early geek life I produced about 50 short Super 8mm movies, many with sound. I tried every genre from clay animation to comedies and documentaries, usually with my friends and family as subjects or reluctant cast members. In high school, I entered the national Kodak Teenage Movie Awards, and won two honorable mentions. However, that would be my highest climb up the film business food chain.

After college, I began producing music, which had opened as the next independent frontier. By that time, my films had gone into storage, and I kept them as anyone keeps their family pictures. They were part of another life.

Recently, after 30 years, I retrieved these films out of storage. I wanted to see if that unfinished life had anything to tell me now. Like a box of old love letters, I hesitated with mixed emotions at looking back. So why was I holding on to them? As I made my way through the stacks of reels, I remembered most of the films, but some were surprising. One such relic was a 10 minute movie called “The Fair”. I had shot the footage one day during my summer break in 1978. My home town of University City held a street festival, and in true experimental film-school mode, I captured the event with a micro lens, filming faces and objects in tight close-up, with blurry waves of people, double exposures, and crowds moving in slow motion. All the effects were done in the camera, a Fuji Single 8mm that allowed me to rewind the film, make fades, overlap, shoot high speed, etc. There was no soundtrack, but I had apparently spent time editing the film, and probably stopped when school started that fall.

Nothing plagues the artist quite like unfinished work. However, 30 years is plenty of time to make a fresh start. This look back gave me some inspiration. I transferred the footage to video and began a new round of editing. The more I studied the film, the more it clicked what I was attempting. Most of the original cuts were fine, and I didn’t want to remake the entire project. Instead it was really about finishing what had been started. I added a soundtrack, a loop-guitar piece called “Panomorphia” recorded this last year, and it all came together. Whatever meaning I was originally trying to convey, the old film and new music bridged two unfinished lives.

Host:	Jeff Oster
Type:	Music/Arts - Performance
Network:	Global

Date:	Thursday, January 7, 2010
Time:	8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:	McGrath's
Street:	1539 Lincoln Ave
City/Town:	Alameda, CA

The Blue Season

Fall is the most underrated season. The Summer heat has finally peaked out, and the weather becomes dynamic. Clouds and robust thunderheads gather like premonitions. The wind is both hot and cool, full of woody smells, and brisk enough to make a jacket feel cozy.

It’s time to reflect and perhaps tie up some lose ends. There’s a sense of letting go with the year winding down, but with the holidays still ahead.

Compared to the east, California Falls are not much of a season: more like a damp slide into winter. I live in Alameda, which is technically an island a few hundreds yards off the coast of Oakland. It’s one of the oldest communities in the bay area and until recently had resisted development for many years. As a result, the houses are old and the trees are big. In fact, they’re among the largest urban trees anywhere.

This Fall there was a window of about two weeks that had a very east of the Rockies feel to it. The leaves had turned in clusters, and we had a few days of bright sun and cool air. It was about as fall as it was going to get. With coffee and camera, I took to the trees.

Jerry Quarry at Peace

This photo was taken at the memorial service for the heavyweight boxer Jerry Quarry.  I was there as a guest

 of the Quarry family, having become friends with Jerry’s older brother James, who hired me to develop The Jerry Quarry Foundation web site.

When I was growing up, Irish Jerry Quarry was one of my heroes.  He competed in a field of brilliant fighters that included Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Ron Lyle, Jimmy Ellis, George Foreman and others, during one of the sport’s best and most competitive eras.  Among the most popular boxers of the day, Jerry was a smart, classy fighter and a dangerous counter puncher with a granite chin.

For all his talent however, Jerry was also an insecure, erratic, and at times foolhardy competitor, who lacked the training discipline to back up the risks he took in the ring.  A crowd pleaser with a tragic personal life, Jerry never won the world championship, but during his prime, he lost only to the best. When George Foreman returned to boxing and regained a world championship at the age of 45, Jerry attempted his own comeback. His last fight, in 1992, left him impaired with the onset of Alzheimer’s. 

I never got to meet Jerry.  By the time I was involved, he was too ill to carry on a conversation. He died in 1999.  The funeral was a certified celebrity and media event.  I met a number of Jerry’s old foes, who had long since bonded as friends, including Mac Foster and Joey Orbillo, as well as the actor-boxer Mickey Rourke, whom Jerry helped train.

After the service, I stayed behind.  As the guests filed out, I was struck by the tranquility of the scene, and took this photo.  In it, you can see the many flowers as well as stacks of Coca-cola, Jerry’s favorite drink, and the shamrock wreath entitled “Champ”, sent by Muhammad Ali.

Live with Jeff Oster's Band

Over the last year I've been playing out more than ever. It's a good thing for me, as I was all but ready to pack away my studio, pedals and guitar for good. Thanks to encouragement from friends like trumpet virtuoso Jeff Oster, bass-master Michael Manring and producer Noah Perry, I realized my disenchantment was with the business of music and not the experience of music.

For the first time since Delay Tactics (my 1980s studio group), I've enjoyed playing in a band. I've had a long career as a solo artist, but for now the group setting offers the same level of satisfaction without the heavy shoulders. I've spent 30 years developing my guitar style, and it's gratifying to offer just what I do best.


This video features Jeff Oster, Michael Manring, Dave Dilullo, Kelly Park and myself at The Shedd Theater in Eugene on September 3rd.

Aquarium Earth

Most of my photography is inspired simply by what's in front of me. Scenes are either stumbled upon, or familiar places with a changing cast of characters. If I'm lucky enough to capture the moment, the print becomes my witness.

Then there's the extended spontaneity of photo design, where Photoshop has become my second camera. Aquarium Earth began with a photo I shot during my visit to the Monterey Aquarium this last summer with my father. It was my first time there. My Canon G10 struggled under the low light of the big marine tanks and the sharks refused to pose for me, so I focused instead on the entranced people hovering at the glass. It struck me that the fish were as much out of their element as were the people watching in the darkness. Everyone was in outer space.

Aquarium Earth and two other new photos (Lucky Stars and Opening Night) are on display in the "Starstruck" exhibit at The Frank Bette Center for The Arts, Alameda, California through the end of December.