I’m doing a slide show and talk at Bookshop Santa Cruz tomorrow — Tuesday, April 7,at 7:30 p.m. (1520 Pacific Avenue). I was a Santa Cruz beach lifeguard in 1955. When I went to Stanford (entry requirement much lower back then !), I spent more time in Santa Cruz than in Palo Alto. My last class was at noon Thursday and I’d head for the beach, coming back Sunday night. Although it’s changed a lot, it’s still a great town. I love the drive down the coast (taking surfboard) and Bookshop Santa Cruz is one of the Great Bookstores.
Details from Bookshop Santa Cruz
I looked at this guy and he looked at me. Both, with cameras around our necks, same age group, on the paseo in Panama City. About 3 weeks ago. He shot a Polaroid of me (right) ($3) while I took the photo of him. We kept running into each other on subsequent days.
Here’s an interview of me done last Sunday by Martrha Danly, editor of Green By Design.
Unoccupied new housing complex in Novato, Calif. All over America, there are overblown housing developments looking for buyers. This one was 5 times as big as what’s shown here.
Photo by Peter Nelson
“This Washington state treehouse is called “Temple of the Blue Moon.” It was built by author and treehouse enthusiast Peter Nelson. It is part of Treehouse Point, the Snoqualmie Valley retreat where Nelson and his wife, Judy, host private events and overnight guests. ” -From the Denver Post
“Something draws us to nature, into the woods and up into the trees,” says Peter Nelson, author of numerous books on the topic including “Treehouses of the World” (Abrams, $35). He is a partner in the Seattle construction company TreeHouse Workshop. “Since the days we were hunting and gathering, it’s always been a natural response to retreat into the trees for protection,” he says. “When you get right up against that bark, it’s very comforting, rejuvenating, and you get a new perspective.”
In many years shooting photos of buildings, I’ve developed an appreciation of shacks in squatter settlements. Considering that they’re built out of trash by people with no money, some are remarkable. Talk about recycling! I’ve always been too shy (or scared) to shoot in the slums. There’s a settlement in Tijuana on the banks of a toxic-looking gulch I’ve always admired.
Kevin Kelly just sent me link to a website in Frankfurt of the L.A. Galerie, which is having an exhibition of the photos of Peter Bialobrzeski and Oliver Boberg. The exhibit opens today and runs for 2 months. Here are some of Bialobrzeski’s photos.
The following description is from art-in.de website:
Peter Bialobrzeski shot the Case Study Homes series at the Baseco compound (“Bataan Shipyard Corporation Compound”), a squatter camp located at the mouth of the River Pasig near the Port of Manila, in February 2008. This neighbourhood, 300 ha of unsafe, unstable subsoil of a former dump site, is home to an estimated 70,000 people. Around 45 per cent of the more than 11 million inhabitants of Greater Manila currently live in such squatter camps and slums. … The pictures of this photographic investigation follow a strict composition. The self-made shacks of old slats and posts, covers, roofing cardboard, corrugated metal and all kinds of cloth fill out each picture in its entirety, like in a portrait. In many cases the photographer chose a slanted front view, displaying both the front and one side wall of the house. Pure front perspectives are rare, as are two or more buildings in one picture. …
“If you’re a fan of world music, then you’re in for a treat with Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls’ Playing for Change: Peace Through Music, a film that premiered at the 7th Annual Tribeca Film Festival. It isn’t really a documentary as much as a global concert film, recorded on the streets of New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, Tibet and elsewhere, as the filmmakers (Johnson being an award-winning engineer and producer) traveled across the globe, finding musicians to record tracks on versions of “Stand By Me” and Bob Marley’s “One World” without any of the individual musicians ever having met each other. The purpose of the project which led to the formation of a foundation to help impoverished people in the areas visited is to show how music brings people together regardless of their cultural differences. The project had the duo recording and filming these diverse musicians guerilla style, then editing the film together to create an amazing never-before-seen “music video” of these amazing musicians playing together on these inspirational songs, as well as playing their own music.” Above excerpt from flixxy.com: the best videos on the net
Movie sent me by Lew.
Spotted this place while skateboarding in SF Tuesday morning. This is a wall next to the entrance of The Cajun Pacific Cafe, which is at 4542 Irving. It’s received good reviews, good seafood. Subtitle on the sign is “Po Boys and New Orleans Kitchen.” I’m going to try it out. I’m a sucker for good graphics.
This seems to be my week of far-out architecture. This is the Gibson boathouse/studio, Lake Oswego, Oregon, designed: in 1993, completed: in 1995, by Oregon architect Robert Harvey Oshatz.
