iron photographer #144

“Iron Photographer” is one of the several ongoing series (this particular one being 144) produced by the good members of Utata, a collection of “Tribal Photography.” this particular series consists of three elements:

1 – one or more gloves
2 – something metal
3 – headless self-portrait

shot with a Hasselblad 503cx

Ilford HP5

contact mutilation

contact mutilation

a strenuous process that involves the hacking up of slide film and using the various bits and pieces to compose an image on b/w paper in the darkroom

shot with a Beseler 23c II enlarger

rgb boxes

r.g.b. boxes

shot with an Olympus E-PL 2

Snapshot: Angus Powelson

Born in Saranap the youngest of five children, Angus Powelson lived with his parents in the Walnut Creek area until he was 13, when, as he puts it, “sibs went to college, parents went crazy, I went into foster care.” Powelson lived in Richmond, where he attended Richmond High, and then in Berkeley. He dropped out of high school when he turned 18 and started working as a mechanic at his brother’s motorcycle shop, T T Motors. He attended UC Berkeley, briefly flirted with the corporate world, then decided “to do something crazy like start a small business.” Powelson runs Japanese car repair shop Oceanworks, and is active in promoting bicycles as a cleaner and healthier mode of transportation.

When did you arrive in Berkeley?
I made a number of forays in the early 1960s with my siblings, going to the old Cinema Guild on Telegraph, seeing The Seventh Seal, probably about 1962-63. I moved here in earnest in about 1965-66, somewhere in there. Left soon after for Richmond. Moved back for good in 1980.

What’s your hood?
The Southside.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I did think I would be a car designer in my life.

Where and when are you happiest?
It used to be true that the happiest thing was to be surrounded by mine and my brother’s kids. Now that they’ve all grown and gone, the high points are good food, good bike rides and putting together bikes.

Which living person do you most admire?
God, they’re all dead.

What drives you mad?
A lot less than it used to. There are certainly a lot of things to be concerned about, but not to the point of madness.

If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?
I’d have darker skin.

Who, or what, is the love of your life?
The natural world.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
We don’t have enough time to cover the first ten.

What three things would you take to a desert island?
A littler Homer (in translation), a little scotch, and my wife… and waders for both of us:  the waters are rising.

What does Berkeley mean to you?
It is very much a small town. Everybody knows everybody. It’s pretty lovely that way. It’s got the best farmers’ market I’ve seen anywhere.

If you didn’t live in Berkeley, where would you live?
There is no other place. There’s no real likelihood of my moving.

the most recent edition of Snapshot for berkeleyside.com

shot with a Nikon D7000

iron photographer #143

“Iron Photographer” is one of the several ongoing series (this particular one being 143) produced by the good members of Utata, a collection of “Tribal Photography.” this particular series consists of three elements:

1 – the color orange
2 – something with a handle
3 – vignetting

shot with a Nikon D7000

iron photographer #142

“Iron Photographer” is one of the several ongoing series (this particular one being 142) produced by the good members of Utata, a collection of “Tribal Photography.” this particular series consists of three elements:

1 – a bottle (yes, it’s actually a bottle)
2 – a winter accessory (the beard … and the hat, coat, and scarf)
3 – portrait orientation (self explanatory)

shot with a Nikon D7000

hop, skip, and a jump

hop, skip, and a jump.

shot with an iphone

Snapshot: Malcolm Margolin

By Frances Dinkelspiel and Pete Rosos

“Hierophantic,” was how the noted historian Kevin Starr described Malcolm Margolin, the publisher of  the Berkeley-based Heyday Books, in a 2004 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. “Manifesting sacred power, a power larger than life, a savant. There’s something rabbinical about him.”

When Berkeleyside approached Margolin about being featured in our “Snapshot” series, he was completely uninterested in answering our questions about himself (as you can see below) and effectively declined to do so. But don’t think that means Margolin doesn’t have any opinions. In fact, he has so many ideas and notions that any casual meeting with the man with the trademark white beard is often the occasion for a torrent of ideas.

Margolin has lived in Berkeley since 1970 when he moved from New York with his wife, Rina. He started Heyday in 1974 with the self-published The East Bay Out, a guide to the East Bay Regional Parks. The success of that book launched a company that has significantly contributed to the understanding of California.

Margolin’s own ‘The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey-Bay Area’ shed light on an important part of the state’s history. The non-profit Heyday has published hundreds of other tomes that illuminate the state’s culture, history, ecology, literature and art.

At the center is Margolin, one of the Bay Area’s biggest champions of writers, journalists, artists, and illustrators.

Below is Margolin’s response to a request by Pete Rosos for a photo shoot and for his answers to the “Proust Questionnaire”-style questions we put to all our “Snapshot” interviewees:

Dear Pete:

Thanks for the reminder. I’ll be around, and the photo shoot sounds ok. But you’ll find me mute, surly, and uncooperative about the interview. The underlying problem is that I haven’t the vaguest idea how to answer the questions. I don’t think like that, Pete; I don’t seem to have developed the ability to give hierarchy to things. Where and when am I happiest? I have no idea; happiness seems to come and go mysteriously, a gift rather than something earned or in any way predictable. Which living person do I most admire? I have no idea. It never occurred to me to create a scale in which I measure my admiration from most to least. And so it goes. I feel these questions are artificial questions, developed in an attempt to make dull people look interesting and I have no desire (or more to the point no capacity) to deal with them at all. If these questions are essential to the project, why don’t I save us both some time and frustration and drop out now. It’s not that I’m unwilling to talk about my life and my values; I simply don’t know how to talk about things in the language you present.

Kindest regards,

Malcolm

The most recent edition of Snapshot for berkeleyside.com

shot with a Nikon D7000

iron photographer #141

“Iron Photographer” is one of the several ongoing series (this particular one being 141) produced by the good members of Utata, a collection of “Tribal Photography.” this particular series consists of three elements:

1 – a shirt (which is also the background)
2 – wire (the things connecting the chili lights)
3 – busy (you be the judge as to whether or not I met that element)

shot with a Nikon D7000

Snapshot: David Berkeley

David Berkeley is an acclaimed songwriter with five albums under his belt. He was a guest on “This American Life” and tours all over America and beyond. Berkeley was a student of philosophy and literature at Harvard, worked for “Outside” magazine, has guided whitewater rafting trips, and has taught public school. Last January he published a book of essays entitled “140 Goats and a Guitar” which tells the stories behind the songs on his newest album. Berkeley lives in Berkeley with his wife and two sons. He plays at the Subterranean Art House in Berkeley on January 21st at 8:00 pm.

When did you arrive in Berkeley?
Last August. But given my name (which is actually my middle name) it feels like I’ve been here for quite a bit longer.

What’s your hood?
West Berkeley, I suppose.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Oddly, I don’t think I thought about it that much. I’m not sure what that says, as my 5-year old talks all the time about the seven things he wants to be. At some point, though, pretty early on, I started wanting to write. And I sang all the time when I was little. I think I always wanted to be onstage.

Where and when are you happiest?
Do I have to name just one? Reading to my son. Coming up with a new melody. Singing to a silent room. Tending a fire.

Which living person do you most admire?
I think we’d all probably say Herman Cain, no?

What drives you mad?
The 4-way stop heading into the Marina at the end of University. Well, that and Congress.

If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?
I’d only need about three hours of sleep a night.

Who, or what, is the love of your life?
Sarah’s been the love of my life since I met her on our first day of college. She shares the title now with our two boys, Jackson and Noah.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I can tell you the most recent crazy thing, which is that I just returned from Las Vegas where I was hired to perform a surprise serenade for a couple taking a gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel. After my singing, the guy got down on his knee and proposed. It’s actually not the first time I’ve done this (though it was the first time in Vegas). Including my own proposal, I’m batting 100.

What three things would you take to a desert island?
See answer to number 8. If it’s cheating to bring people, I could answer like Dwight from [TV show] “The Office”: a hunting knife, strike-anywhere matches and sunscreen. Or how about my guitar, a huge blank book and some kind of pen that never dries up?

What does Berkeley mean to you?
Amazing food. Proximity to great hiking and beaches. Crisp mornings and nights. Fog and eucalyptus trees. The Greek Theater.

If you didn’t live in Berkeley, where would you live?
We spent a year living in Corsica in a tiny mountain village (pop. 38) while my wife did field work for her PhD in anthropology. I’d go back there.

The most recent edition of Snapshot for berkeleyside.com

shot with a Nikon D7000