Amber, Take #3

Posting the last few images from a shoot with Amber in October. Always love working with this girl... and feel like I needed a change of pace after all the rain and politics and the world ending and all... All images on location at Marshall's Beach in San Francisco, October of 2016.

Check out my Patreon for print releases from these and other shoots on a monthly basis...

http://patreon.com/jszymanski

#0476_11A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0475_16A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0475-36A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0477_01A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0477_18A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0477_23A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0476_03A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

#0476_10A - Amber, San Francisco, 2016

Print Release, March 2017 - No. 0379_20A

#0379_20A - Kasia, San Francisco 2015

Bringing out an older image from the archive for this months release. Kasia contacted me back in September of 2015 asking me if I was Polish like her and if I'd be interested in shooting. This is by far my favorite frame from the entire shoot...

Digital proofs are printed on Canson Fiber Rag, 5x7 proofs are printed on Ilford Cold Tone Fiber. All prints should ship by the end of the week.

To get in on monthly print releases, to support my work, and to get rad stuff in the mail every month, visit https://patreon.com/jszymanski/.

If you're interested in purchasing a print, you can find it in the shop...

https://www.josephszymanski.com/shop/no037920a

 

Word On The Street

Longing for warmer, sunnier, dryer days... winter seems to be dragging on forever this year. A few snaps from the street, in between torrential downpours...

#0498_01A Castro Street, San Francisco.

#0498_01A Castro Street, San Francisco.

#0495 - Minna Street, San Francisco.

#0496_28A - Market Street, San Francisco.

#0498_06A - Market Street, San Francisco.

Adrianna, Take #1

#0488_21 - Adrianna, October 2016

Finally edited through some work I shot with Adrianna way back in October of last year. It was the last shoot I was able to squeeze in before the weather absolutely went sideways on us out here. There was a lot of haze and the light was changing fast, but the wind held off and we were pretty protected by the rocks and were able to shoot for a couple hours without any hypothermia...

All images shot on location at Marshall's Beach in San Francisco. Still have more images to sort through. Hoping to knock out a couple prints in the darkroom from this shoot for future print releases.

If you're interested in getting prints early and cheap, check out my Patreon page...

http://patreon.com/jszymanski

#0488_08 - Adrianna, October 2016

#488_36 - Adrianna, October 2016

#0489_12A - Adrianna, October 2016

Word On The Street

I know it could be worse. I know it could be snow. We're coming out of a drought. I know we need it. But seriously. I'm over it. Enough with the rain... It's making me depressed.

#0497_33A - Market Street. San Francisco, Ca. January of 2017.

#0497_26A - New Montgomery Street. San Francisco, Ca. January of 2017.

#0497_24A - Mission Street. San Francisco, Ca. January of 2017.

Women's March, San Francisco 2017

Intermitant torential rain not withstanding, well over 100,000 people came out for the Women's March in San Francisco on January 21st.

#0504_15A - "Resist" Civic Center / Women's March, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

#0504_13A - Women's March, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

 

It was a pretty powerful event, to say the least. I've never seen so many take to the streets in such a peaceful demonstration in my entire life. Police presence was virtually non-existent, no arrests were made, everyone got completely soaking wet and absolutely nobody seemed to care...

The march was more of a crawl until the mass hit Market Street. By then it was absolutely pouring. Didn't seem to slow any one down in the least.

Only posting a few images here. For more photographs check out the full Women's March gallery here, or use the link at left.

 

 

#0505_18A - Women's March, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

#0506_26 - Market Street. Women's March, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

#0506_90 - Market Street. Women's March, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

#0507_24A - Market Street. Women's March, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

For more images view the full Women's March gallery here, or see the link at left...

Inauguration Protests, San Francisco 2017

On inauguration day, January 20th, 2017, hundreds of people gathered on the steps of the old Bank of America Building in San Francisco to protest the election and policies of Donald Trump.

No. 0500_09A - "Resist" Bank of America building, San Francisco, Ca. January 20th, 2017.

No. 0500_22A - A young demonstrator. San Francisco, Ca. January 20th, 2017.

The demonstration was absolutely peaceful despite some reports, there was a minimal police presence, I don't believe any arrests were made at BofA specifically. There were other actions around The City where people were arrested. The overwhelming theme was resistance to the racist, misogynistic and hateful policies of the incoming president.

For more photographs from this demonstration visit the gallery here...

No. 0500_30A - Bank of America building. San Francisco, Ca. January 20th, 2017.

No. 0501_07A - UN Plaza, San Francisco, Ca. January 20th 2017

Later that evening several thousand people gathered at UN Plaza near City Hall for a rally and march against Trump. Demonstrators marched down Market to the Castro District. Again, police presence was minimal, no arrests were made.

For more photographs from this demonstration visit the gallery here...

No. 0503_17A - Castro Street, San Francisco. Ca. January 20th, 2017.

Print Release, February 2017 - No. 0419_28A

A little over a year ago now, on New Years Day, we ended up at the beach... It was freezing and horribly windy but the sun was out and the weather didn't seem to phase the dog one bit, as usual (mine is the little one on the left).

No. #0419_28A - Ocean Beach, San Francisco, Ca. January of 2016.

Digital proofs are printed on Canson Fiber Rag, 5x7 proofs are printed on Ilford Cold Tone Fiber. All prints should ship by the end of the week. Also including some polaroids from a little road trip we took through Palm Springs...

To get in on monthly print releases, to support my work, and to get rad stuff in the mail every month, visit https://patreon.com/jszymanski/.

If you're interested in purchasing a print, you can find it in the shop... https://www.josephszymanski.com/shop/no-041928a

Media, Control And The Coming Tyrant

President Trump... (I just threw up a little in my own mouth typing that) is using some rather blatant, textbook fascist style strategies that we all should be tremendously concerned about. Chief among them has been his handling of the media, or rather his efforts to control it, since the beginning of his campaign, and now into his Presidency.

#0463_34A - "The Emperor Has No Balls" The Castro District, San Francisco. August of 2016.

Step One: Demonize. Turn the public against the media, berate them, call them liars, say things such as...

“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.”

"lies, deceit, viciousness, disgusting reporters, horrible people..."

"they're scum, absolute scum, remember that..."

"I am not running against Crooked Hillary Clinton, I'm running against the crooked media."

Trump seems to be a pathological liar in every sense, and when reputable media outlets call him out on those falsehoods he perpetuates, he calls them liars and dishonest. His press secretary and advisors offer "alternative facts" further entrenching his supports against the "disgusting reporters."

#1409 - "Make Racism Wrong Again" Inaugural Protest and March. San Francisco, Ca. January 20th, 2017.

Step Two: Restrict. Limit media access, do not hold press conferences, do not allow the press to travel with you, do not let the press know whom you are meeting with. Trump's phone call after the election with Vladimir Putin was first reported by the Kremlin, not a single US news outlet knew of it. Let that sink in a minute.

Threaten to pull the press from the West Wing, shut down questioning from news organizations you deem "fake news," push your narrative and attack those who don't play along. Control the headline.

Step Three: Threaten. During his campaign Trump threatened to sue the New York Times after an article ran about his alleged assault of multiple women, then threatened to sue a second time for an article that released parts of his tax returns. Trump has said he wants to "open up" libel laws so he can more easily sue news organizations.

"I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We're going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected," Trump said, both demonizing and threatening in one motion.

Step Four: Circumvent. Bypass the media entirely, communicate your propaganda to the public directly, post videos directly to social media, tweet constantly, hold large rallies instead of press conferences, allowing you to continue to push your agenda to the public unimpeded by journalists. To my knowledge, no president elect in the history of this nation has ever made a victory lap around the country before, and that should frighten all of us.

#1701 - "Midterm Elections" - Night of the Women's March. The Castro District, San Francisco, Ca. January 21st, 2017.

Tyrants will always attempt to control the media, and while Trump has been in office for less than a week, he seems intent on doing just that. The only way to stop this demagogue is to inform yourself. Read the news, not the facebook headline. Demand answers not sound bytes. Seek the larger truth, not the 4am tweet. 

For The Record

#0498_11A - Mission St., San Francisco. 2106

For the record, I do not support President Donald Trump.

I do not support his policies, or lack thereof. I believe he is ill equipped for the office. I believe he is uninformed and willfully ignorant. I believe his intentions are single in nature, to enrich himself and his family by way of the presidency.

I am disgusted with the Republican Party, not only because of their policies, but because they could have stopped this. They could have stood up for something. They could still shutdown this circus and attempt to make things right, but they value power, not progress. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Shame on you both. You have harmed this great nation with your inaction.

More importantly, I do not support a hateful president.

I do not support a man who degrades, demeans and assaults women. This is not locker room talk. This is not acceptable. This is not normal behavior. If you believe it is, you are part of the problem.

I do not support a man who demonizes immigrants, Muslims, African-Americans, Latinos or anyone else that does not look or speak like him. This is not ok. This is not acceptable behavior for anyone, let alone a president. This is racism. This is xenophobia. It is not an "opinion." It is disgusting. 

I believe education is a right, and not a mechanism to build "God's Kingdom" as the nominee for Secretary of Education has said.

I believe healthcare is a right, and the size of your bank account should never determine wether or not you live a healthy life, or live at all.

I believe all people, women, men, gay, lesbian, trans, black, brown, white, red, green, purple, yellow, whatever you may be and however you identify, deserve equals rights, equal pay, equal treatment under the law, equal access to healthcare and housing.

I believe the roles are reversed. Those of us in big cities who value diversity aren't living in a bubble. Those that believe the only "real" Americans are the ones that look, speak and act as they do, this is the bubble. The bubble of ignorance, of intolerance, of racism and homophobia and misogyny.

I'll be on the street tonight, in the pouring rain, cameras in tow, to show the world that we do not support this president. We support equality, we support diversity, we support human rights. We are not in a bubble. We are the majority. And we will drag all of you with us, one day, kicking and screaming if need be, out of your bubble. Because you deserve better, all of us do. For the record. 

Word On The Street

The City feels quiet these days... there's a silence in the air, people are worried...

#0494_33A - Muni Riders, San Francisco, 2016.

#0495_17A - Howard St. San Francisco, 2016

Inauguration day looms large and everyone seems to be realizing all at once that this is not in fact a horrible nightmare, but our reality, at least for the foreseeable future. 

I've never felt more fortunate to live in the Bay Area. We've got our problems, but we're also one of the most diverse, open minded, inclusive and progressive places on earth.

I read an interesting thing the other day that really resonated with me...

"What if the people who live in diverse cities filled with multitudes of points of view aren't the ones living in a bubble?"

I'm sticking with that.

Flora, Take #2

Take #2 from a shoot with Flora (http://www.modelmayhem.com/3055887) in October of last year, we shot through intermittent rain and a stiff wind, which is a hell of a lot easier for me to work in than for her, as it turns out...

#0481_22A

#0481_26A - Flora, 2016

#0481_27A - Flora, 2016

#0482_24A - Flora, 2016

#0483_30 - Flora, 2016

Amber, Take #2

Second take from a shoot back in October (when the world was a brighter, warmer place...) with Amber (http://www.modelmayhem.com/ANudeMuse) at Marshall's Beach in San Francisco. Sifting through these images... I'm really looking forward to printing some of them soon, watch for a print release from this shooting coming up...

#0473_07A - Amber, 2016

#0473_20A - Amber, 2016

#0473_21A - Amber, 2016

As always... if you want to get in a print releases as well as other bits and pieces I'm releasing each month, visit patreon.com/jszymanski.

#0474_18A - Amber, 2016

#0474_19A - Amber, 2016

#0474_16A - Amber, 2016

Print Release, January 2017 - No. 0430_25A

#0430_25A - Sonia And Brittany, Queen Anne Hotel. San Francisco, California. February of 2016. Leica M2, Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens, Alford HP5 film.

Occasionally, not often, things just seem to fall into place... having been invited to a party by a model I'd worked with some years prior, along with a few other creatives, a couple other models, a few more photographers, things got weird, and this image happened.

Digital proofs were printed on Canson Fiber Rag, 5x7 proofs were printed on Ilford Cold Tone Fiber. All prints should ship this week.

To get in on monthly print releases and to support my work, visit https://patreon.com/jszymanski/.

If you're interested in purchasing this print you can find it in my shop... Here's the link: https://www.josephszymanski.com/shop/no-043025a

Happy New Year… and enjoy…

Flora, Take #1

For the record, models are pretty tough customers. Sure I've worked with a few prima donnas over the years, but they were the exception not the rule.  Flora was no different. We ended up shooting during the first big rain storm of the season. Thankfully it was somewhat intermittent...

#0480_16 Flora, San Rafael, 2016.

There were a few good breaks in the weather that allowed for relatively un-soaked shooting. The light was wonderfully soft, and It made for some interesting images to say the least...

#0480_20 Flora, San Rafael, 2016.

#0480_14 Flora, San Rafael, 2016.

#0480_11 Flora, San Rafael, 2016.

Word On The Street

Sonder: n. The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines and worries - a story that continues around you and is connected to thousands of other lives.

#0469_27A - Sleeping Man, Muni Train. San Francisco, CA. September of 2016.

#0470_05A - Man With Gun, Market Street. San Francisco, CA. October of 2016.

#0470_03A - Sunbathing Woman, 3rd Street. San Francisco, CA. October of 2016.

#0469_22A - Cafe, Mission Street. San Francisco, CA. September of 2016.

#0469_31A - Museum Goers, 3rd Street. San Francisco, CA. September of 2016.

Amber, Take #1

After several false starts Amber and I were finally able to pull it together and shoot again in October. She's a wonderful model and just a lovely person... you can see more of her work at http://modelmayhem.com/ANudeMuse or at http://anudemuse.com/

All images shot with a Leica M2, Leitz 90mm f/2.8 on Ilford FP4 125 film.

#0472_31A - Amber, San Francisco. October of 2016.

#0472_19A - Amber, San Francisco. October of 2016.

#0472_17A - Amber, San Francisco. October of 2016.

#0472_27A - Amber, San Francisco. October of 2016.

Prints, Books, Etc.

So it's the holidays, again... and seeing as the buying season is already running full tilt, I though I'd remind all of you about all the really amazing stuff that you could buy (from me) that isn't from Wal-Mart or Target... so in turn, I can buy more film, bourbon, shampoo, you know, important things...

Fine Art Prints

I've updated and added a bunch of new prints to the shop... and I'll be adding more throughout the month. In addition to regular prints I'm putting up some framed finished pieces that I have on hand at reduced prices...

Books On Demand

All three books that I've put out listed in the shop as signed copies, limited to what I have on hand... you can find them here...

If you're not interested in a signed copy you can pick up any of them on demand through http://www.blurb.com/user/origin at the links listed below...

Fragments: http://www.blurb.com/b/6271657-fragments

No Particular Significancehttp://www.blurb.com/b/4537424-photographs-of-no-particular-significance

Midnight: http://www.blurb.com/b/3425560-midnight

Print Release, December 2016 - No. 0419_10A

A quick snap from last December, at the cafe where I pick up coffee most mornings, on New Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco.

No. #0419_10A - Cafe Window, New Montgomery Street. San Francisco, CA. December of 2015. Shot with a Leica M2, Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens, on Ilford HP5 400 film. 

Prints should ship out in the next week or so...  All digital proofs are printed on Canson Fiber Rag, 5x7 proofs are printed on Ilford Cold Tone Fiber. 

To get in on monthly print releases and to support my work, visit https://patreon.com/jszymanski/. If you're interested in purchasing this print you can find it in my shop... Here's the link: http://www.josephszymanski.com/shop/no-0419-10a.

Word On The Street

A few snaps from my periodic magic hour strolls. Now that daylight savings time has ruined everything I'm really missing these late afternoon walks. Seems like the best place to be this time of year is the darkroom...

#0468_28A - Market Street, San Francisco, CA. September of 2016.

#0469_12A - Market Street, San Francisco, CA. September of 2016.

#0465_15A - Castro Street, San Francisco, CA. August of 2016.