Noel Noir + Project Nunway

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Holiday decadence was only a starting point for this fashion show. The party, Noel Noir, was held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with music, art, and the infamous ‘Project Nunway’ fashion show. Pairing local designers with members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, this was one of the best, most over the top fashion experiences I’ve ever had the luck to photograph.

If you aren’t familiar with the work the Sisters do, here’s a blurb from their website –

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence® is a leading-edge Order of queer nuns. Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979, the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment. We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty and we use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.

The sisters do incredible, important work. And don’t even try to out-dress them.

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I’m trying something a little different, with the imbedded slideshow. Let me know what you think!


Project Nunway, 2010 – Images by Tristan Crane

Vivian Maier, Incredible Street Photography

Imagine you’re at a swap meet. Or a garage sale. Or an estate auction.

You see a box of negatives for sale. They are of the city, people, places, beaches. Do you purchase the box out of curiosity, or do you move onto something a little less dusty?

Faced with this situation, John Maloof chose to purchase these many boxes of negatives and when sorting through them, discovered a nearly unbelievable treasure. Once he realized the scope of the work, he began to research the photographer behind the images. Vivian Maier was a nanny in the suburbs of Chicago who for years she would leave her home to photograph in the streets of the city. She left behind over 100,000 negatives, most of them medium format, along with thousands of prints and boxes of undeveloped rolls of film. To print and process her work, she had converted her bathroom into a darkroom – participating in a long tradition of diy darkroom artistry. Her work is, simply put, stunning.

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Had her work not been found by someone who could appreciate it, it’s quite easy to imagine those boxes heading straight for the dump. And we would have been denied the work of a true master of the medium. Sadly, Ms. Maier died shortly before her work was found and began to get the international attention she very much deserves. I find her story deeply moving, her work inspiring, and hope you do as well.

John Maloof’s blog on her work is here.

Kickstarter, where you can support a documentary on Vivian Maier’s work and pre-order a copy of the DVD as well as a forthcoming book of her photography.

A flickr discussion on the topic, with his initial request for help in what to do with these materials.

Nytimes lensblog coverage of this story.

An exhibition of her work is currently up at the Chicago Cultural Center. I’m trying to think of ways to get there and see it in person!

Christmas in Arizona and Testing A New Lens

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For the second Christmas in a row, my partner and I went to visit his sister and her family in Mesa, Arizona. Last year we drove and spent some time in Joshua Tree, unfortunately this year we couldn’t spare the time and thus were at the mercy of holiday flight schedules, and weather. The flight out on Dec 25? Easy as pie.

My gift to myself this year was a new lens, the Canon 85mm 1.8. I’ve been looking for a longer portrait lens with a wide aperture, and this one comes with rave reviews.

I haven’t spent much time in Phoenix or the surrounding area, as we primarily come to visit family. We did get out for a hike up to the top of a hill though, through a rocky area full of my favorite thing about this kind of desert – Saguaro cactus. They are incredibly stunning.

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I’m fascinated by most kinds of plant life, orchids, succulents and cactus are my favorites though. The kids thought I was nuts for taking so many photos of them. I should also mention that these shots weren’t with the new lens, but my trusty 24-105mm L Series. I have a love/hate relationship with this lens, as it’s a heavy beast to lug around on hikes or wandering around town, but the image quality is terrific.

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This is our niece, who’s skipping down the hill as fast as she can, unable to resist the lure of heading home to ice cookies.

More ( And actual images from the 85mm below the jump)

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I don’t know if it’s just a Midwestern (David’s family is from Indianapolis) thing, but icing Christmas cookies is one of their family traditions. Having been born to semi-hippie Jewish parents in California, these holiday rituals are all new to me.

Pure sugar, these things are.

They’re delicious.

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Our niece always eats her weight in them, so we take bets on how long before she throws a sugar-crash tantrum.

Kidding. Mostly. She’s a well behaved, sweet kid.

Here’s where the lens came in handy. The light was terrible indoors, uneven, and people were moving quickly. I’d read that this lens was sharp and I’ve got to concur. It’s also a light piece of glass (being a prime lens), which is a relief for tired arms when the candy hasn’t kicked in yet.

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As I wanted to test the general sharpness, I chose center-focus points, but in the future will play around with different points on the 7d to get a wider range of effects.

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Color fidelity is also good.

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Safe to say the lens is sharp! I can see this being extremely useful while shooting weddings.

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While I can’t imagine enduring the summer in Mesa, I’m beyond envious of the pomegranate tree flourishing in their back yard! And those incredible sunsets, of course.

Unfortunately, our flight home was delayed due to a huge storm hovering right over San Francisco. The landing was terrifying (I hate to fly), but we made it safe and sound to two purring kitties.

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Dickens Fair!

Ever year I try to make it to the Dickens Christmas Fair at least once. What can I say? I’m a sucker for top hats. Dickens fair is a blast, drawing huge numbers of people with far better sewing abilities than I possess. The eye candy is through the roof, and the lighting is regrettably bad. In between cups of mulled wine, I managed to get a few shots worth sharing.

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The irony of re-creating London in San Francisco isn’t lost on many people. It was foggy, rainy, and gross the day we went. Perfect!

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The windows of the Dark Garden Corset’s booth are always a big hit. These kids were trying to decide if the models were real.

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More below the cut –

Continue reading “Dickens Fair!”