-j
Spoke
-j
Royal
SF 09'
East 14th & 51st East Oakland 09'
Like to give a shout to Jason Strachan out from South Africa, he's a 5D amigo with hella skills!
check his site
peace
-j
Vitality
I'm excited about working with Crown City
thank you guys
-j
Revised
-j
Memoirs of one city
At times we become so discouraged in our work that we almost want to give it up all together. Weather it's because we don't think others appreciate or respect what we do or that we don't think we are getting the proper recognition for all the hard work we put into our art.I myself have my ups and downs when it comes to this situation but, coming home after a long day of creating images and seeing what i've done makes all that "getting your name out there stuff" not so important at times
I am happy to just be able to create
Mission District, SF 09'
-j
Yoshi made me do it
Went out to Yoshi's tonight to check Max Macveety and David Boyce. I had a great friday night and i'm greatful to have good friends.
Here are some shots from West Oakland taken with a 5D fitted with a Holga lens
enjoy
-j
My Burning Heart
I held on to this side of the candle for years now and today i decided to let it go. I am a sentimental cat but, since i have been liquidating like crazy and don't plan on leaving much behind, it was nice to relish in the scent of my side of the incomplete heart.
- ISO 25,600 43mm f/2.8 @ 1/1000 sec
-j
Oldies but,
These are two images i have really come to love and by no means are they new work but, they are solid in my opinion.
dig it
Tenderloin , SF 06'
Chinatown, SF 07'
enjoy
much love
-j
Love One
- ISO 50 50mm F/1.4 @ 1/2000
- ISO 50 50mm f/1.4 @ 1/5000
-j
Steady
- ISO 100 70mm f/2.8 @ 1/60
- ISO 100 24mm f/2.8 @ 1/60
-j
Ghetto Blaster
I have met a ton of french photographers in the past 4 yrs on myspace but one in particular stands out. I have been a fan of his work for a minute and the funniest part is that i don't even know his real name!
anyway i wanted to plug his site/blog
He's one bad ass creative cat and i love his concept "nothing but poetry" even more than i like my
"caught in the scramble"
Cheers N.B.P !
one last thing! Amanda posted some shots of yours truly on her blog from awhile back if you wanna click your way over there --> amandalopezphoto.blogspot.com
enjoy
-j
MoHoly Week
Peace everyone!
This past week has been a little hectic and i haven't had a chance to get a post in but, now i'm back to fill you guys in on what's been new in the last few days.
First of all i want to thank Ethan Parsonage for allowing me the time to grab some shots and kick with me a bit. Ethan aka "headnod" of the crown city rockers is a wealth of talent that includes spinning, killin the bass , mixing , mastering and producing some of the illest tracks this side of the Mason Dixon line. He's worked with some pretty inspirational folks including Moe Pope, Ladybug Mecca, Gift of Gab, Raashan Ahmad and DJ Shadow to drop a few names, Aside all of that he's a great guy and i had a ridiculously fun time takin the shots. I posted 1 or 2 on my portfolio section as well you can check.
Thanks again Ethan!
This past Saturday night i was invited to show at Left Space in San Francisco. This is all thanks to the very talented Leo Docuyanan who i finally got the chance to meet and chop it up with about future photo projects and life as photographers in general. Leo is featured in the first issue of MoHoly Ground a non-profit publishing house that supports bay area artists. The reason this particular event went down was to raise funds to keep it afloat in these tough times. I want to give big shouts to John Mc Coy and Jeff Bostic for havin me as well , i was honored to show along side so many talented folks like Tiffany Eng, Mia Walker, Katy Vawter and Gabe Wheeler. Another dope artist that i would like to mention is Berlin Tomas who's work is insane, you can check him out at www.thesciolist.com
Also to everyone who came out to support me as well!
you know who you are and can't thank you enough
I don't have any images from the show but, i'm sure Leo will post some soon on his flickr
Last but not least i went to Dub Mission last night at ElboRoom to enjoy the company of good friends and great music provided by Roy 2000, DJ Quest, K flay , DJ Sep and Kat O1O. Thank you as always Crystal :)
Roy 2000
Cikee and Mikey Boo
DJ Sep
K Flay
DJ Quest
There was a ton of other running around that i did this past week that completely wore me out and right now i need to get some serious sleep on.
Hoping to catch a plane back home this month to see the family and grab some photos to finally finish the book! Won't that be the day when i actually finish this thing!
i'm out!
godbless
-j
Get Vintage
Light is so limitless in what you can do with it,the way it changes and flows , the way it can be controlled and manipulated and the grace and beauty of it under various circumstances. As photographers we thrive on it's ability to wrap our subjects in it's presence and continually amaze us with the outcome of a single moment of it's time.
I label myself a "street photographer" because i love large cities surrounded by people and architecture as my favorite subjects but, by no means does it stop there. Artists will always evolve and change through experience,influence,inspiration and knowledge and weather it be a street corner or a wedding i have started to open my mind to other genres of painting with light.
not sure what i was going for with those last two sentences but, reguardless here are some shots fired at a vintage spot in Alemeda a year or two ago.
Enjoy and keep inspiring others!
-j
Mike Check 1,2
I've seen his work so many times and each time it's just as fresh.Had to get my blog on about this cat cause in my opinion he's a truly dope visual artist.
Enter stage... Mike Piscitelli and his "you won't find it here" blog.Please take the time if you can to check his work and his blog and take in this amazing visual producer.
Here are some clicks from LA
beunos noches
- j
O1O
I am soo excited that Kat Ouano is a part of the book cause she's just so damm talented and inspirational, not to mention super fun to kick it with!.Last week she was kind enough to let me to photograph her for the project and also take some non-book related shots that had me laughing nonstop.You can check her Crown City Rockers bio here and pick up the Natural Phenomenons album here. She's Pretty incredible and i think if you don't know about this girl well, you need to take a listen right now!
Many thanks for everything Kat
Especially for your creativity!
Kat getting her schroeder on from JJC on Vimeo.
-j
Little Tokyo 2.0
- ISO 3200 24mm f/2.8 1/4 sec
-ISO 3200 40mm f/2.8 1/10sec
-ISO 3200 24mm f/2.8 1/30sec
- Downtown Los Angeles Little Tokyo District
- May 2nd 2009
- 1:30 AM
-j
The Book Of Life
So,
This post might be a little long and i might drop alot of names and ramble on a bit but, i had such a great time and feel so blessed to have experienced it all that it's definitely in order.
4 hours into my train ride i met a very sweet girl from Switzerland named Florence.We got to talking about her and me and our lives and before i knew it we were at Union station.It's beautiful how life works and how people will come into it and change it forever.Me and Flo were both headed to LA and both got on at Jack London, her hostel was in Inglewood and the tinytoones event was in inglewood as well.We swapped numbers and spent the following morning and afternoon wandering around downtown Los Angeles enjoying the sun, the people and each others company.Flo was basically backpacking through the US and i was just in town for two days so , when my time came to go to the event i had to say goodbye and we went our separate ways. I told her about wanting to leave the country and how i felt like i had a purpose abroad and she agreed.I think she might have been in my book of life for a reason. I would love to re-connect with her one day again on another train years from now and tell her all about how she inspired me along with all my stories and adventures. Flo if these words ever grace your eyes sight i just want to thank you again sincerely for being my buddy for a night and a day and i am forever thankful for meeting you!
Just like so many others she didn't like her picture being taken but, you know me !
i snuck one good one in while she was looking for her bus map :)
Two buses later and a walk down Crenshaw i arrived at Chuco's justice center where TinyToones were performing the last show of their US tour. I can't explain how much love i took in that night , it was incredible to say the least. I am so blessed to have met June at the time that i did and even know i have never met him i have alot of love for the founder of tinytoones KK. Please if you can check the website and help out with any donations it would mean a great deal to myself and to all the children. I arrived back in Oakland Monday night and Tuesday afternoon i received a call from my new friend Leng who told me that the tinytoones kids had a layover and were stuck at SFO until Wednesday morning!
So, me and Leng both went to pick them up and bring them back to my house so they could get some much needed sleep until their flight the following day. It was a little overwhelming having so many people in my tiny place at one time but, i was so glad that i could help them out with a place to stay. I also had the great opportunity of meeting tinytoones admin director Lisa Ho and finding out that she and the very talented photographer Jen May were good friends. I have been a fan of Jen's for quite some time now and wish i had introduced myself at the Inglewood event. Jen did an incredible job of covering it and even did a dope little video that you can check out on her blog. I wish i had done half as good of a job with my photos as she did that night and after seeing hers i am almost embarrassed to post mine but, without saying anymore here they are..... oh and i posted a short video of the kids gettin busy here
Afterwards i met up with Tik (thank you kelly!) and hung out with her and her friend grace as she was kind enough to drive all the way across town to Inglewood to pick me up and take me out for drinks, laughs and much needed Mexican food!
I know i say it all the time but, i just feel more blessed than i have ever felt in my life recently and i can't help but say it constantly!
so,
Thank you to everyone again and again and i love that you are in my book of life and you are in mine as well.
-j
12 1/2 hours
This weekend was pretty much the most incredible time i have had in forever.I got to relax down the pacific coast on the train and make some finishing touches on the book's text and grab some incredible visuals while crusing along meeting some of the other incredible people that decide to travel by amtrak.I have alot more to say about my weekend but right now i have the tinytoones at my crib!
so i'm gonna go back to trying to be a good host and leave you with these photos from my train ride.
I'll fill everyone in on more details in a day or two!
stay tuned
i feel so lucky to be....
-j
MC to the MPC
This week i got the chance to link up with two very talented cats. Wordup is a young talented East Oakland Mc who is taking his talent to the next level and who asked me to shoot it up for the new albulm he's droppin right around the corner.
And my man Woodstock needs no introduction. This guys a bay area legend who produces some of the illest beats to come out the MPC!
His work with the Crown City Rockers and Raashan Ahmad is timeless and i am super honored to have met him.
I would right a little bit more in depth about the two but, i gotta get set to jet to the city for some good music and incredible photography.
Hope to see you there
-j