Monday, March 18, 2024

Wiser than Ciwt --- Day 13/73

Walk: Union Square 

Distance: 4 miles

Petter Nass, Northern Hawk-owl, seen in Norway


Sunday, March 17, 2024

Quiz: Guess Who --- Day 13/72



Walk: No, Sunday home stuff

Distance: n/a

Can you guess who these people are? *


And who took their photographs?**

*Answers:

Yo-Yo Ma, 1964

Audrey Hepburn, Paris 1951

Hell's Angel (Doug***), San Francisco, 1967   *** Extra credit if you guessed his name correctly


**

Irving Penn, London, 1950


Saturday, March 16, 2024

Evacuation with Puck, Oberon, Fairies and All --- Day 13/71

Walk: Union Square, SF Ballet

Distance: 6 miles

Oberon and Puck wait to see if the Opera House will reopen and the dance continues

So,  A Midsummer's Night Dream, the ballet, was particularly memorable in San Francisco this afternoon.  Somewhere toward the end of the first act lights started flashing, sirens began blaring and an announcement repeated over the loudspeaker:  "A fire emergency has been reported in the building.  Please get up from your seats and calmly leave the building.  Do not use the elevator"

It was quite a feat walking down the steep marble stairways for many of the audience, but we all did it as instructed.  Calmly.

Out in the brisk sun, many realized they were waiting amidst the interrupted dancers.  And the fun began.  Phone cameras came out.  Characters talked to dazzled children, other waiting attendees and among themselves.  When it was announced that we could all return to our various places, one formerly anxious dancer had been so enjoying the break he announced "I'm not nervous any more!" on his way back to the stage.  

To widly cheering support from the audience the dancers resumed their performances from exactly where they had left it and danced without further interruption to all the happy marriages at Midsummer's conclusion.  More wild cheering.





Friday, March 15, 2024

Belly Up to Temple Bars --- Day 13/70

Walk: Presidio

Distance: 6 miles


Saint Patrick's Day at San Francisco's Temple Bar

Happy Saint Patrick's Day  San Francisco is a pretty Irish town - even with our own Temple Bar - so the celebrations will surely continute the next day or two arouund here.  Ciwt can only imagine the festivities at the original and famous Temple Bar Pub in Dublin where there is already a vast whiskey and beer collection and Irish Music all day every day!

Saint Patrick's Day at Temple Bar Pub, Dublin, Ireland


Thursday, March 14, 2024

Penn Who? Well..... --- Day13/69

Walk: Union Square

Distance: 5.5 miles

So, who is this Irving Penn?  Is he related to the actor, Sean Penn?*  Ciwt had those questions and more when she got her Press Preview invitation from the de Young Museum for its Irving Penn show.

Then she arrived at the event and found it crowded with press people who had no question whatsoever about who Irving Penn (1917-2009) was.  Almost all were photography lovers excited to see so many works by the famed cameraman. Probably fashionistas who follow Vogue will be there in droves when the show opens because Penn was the magazine's celebrated photographer for over sixty years. 

Vogue Photographs: 



Irving Penn, Kerchief Glove (Dior), Paris, 1950, Gelatin silver print

Irving Penn, Girl with Tobacco on Tongue (Mary Jane Russel), New York, 1951, Gelatin silver print

Concurrently Penn founded his own studio in New York and began making advertising photographs for such clients as General Foods, De Beers, Issey Miyake, Clinique and many others.

Irving Penn, Issey Miyake, Staircase Dress, New York, 1994, Platinum-palladium print

His exacting and revealing portrait photographs for private clients and magazines are legend.

Pablo Picasso at La Californie, Cannes, 1957

Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 1957

Edith Piaf, New York, 1948

Turns out Penn's work ranged far beyond the boundaries of fashion, cover photography and portraits into still lifes, and photographic essays on subjects like: 

Small Trades
Balloon Seller, Paris, 1950
Travel
Rock Groups, San Francisco, 1967

Documentary
Anzio Beachhead One Year After Battle (A), Italy, 1947

On and on through thought provoking Still Lifes, Nudes, Beauty, Mixed Media Paintings and Drawings, even Cigarette Butts (yes, as part of a personal anti-smoking campaign in the mid 60's).

All of his images are accessible and riveting viewing for even the most basic photographers - like Ciwt with her iPhone.  But throughout his career Penn was really a photographers' photographer experimenting with monochromatic backdrops in an era of artificial lighting, reinvigorating antiquated processes such as platium and gelatin silver, experimenting with many printing techniques including mounting negatives on aluminum sheets.  And always throughout achieving prints that are deeply contrasting, clean crisp, stunningly visually simple.  

All this artistry and creativity at a time when photography was primarily understood as a means of communication. No more as we all know.  Nearly singlehandedly Iriving Penn brought photography into the dominant artistic medium it is today.



*No, but Irving Penn's brother, filmmaker and theater director Arthur, was Sean's father.  And Ciwt is a bit off the hook not knowing much about Irving Penn because he was an intensely private man who avoided the limelight.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Photo or Object? --- Days 13/67 & 68

 Walks: Hood, de Young Museum

Distances: 3 miles, 3.5 miles

Maybe because she just snaps with her iPhone and is done, Ciwt's eyes glaze over a bit when taking tours of photography.  Whoever the guide is often talks at length about the exact camera used, the steps of developing the photo, the paper and whatall.  Then Ciwt stands waiting as the many amateur photographers in the crowd ask with great interest about matters techical. Probably because of Instagram and phone cameras that number is growing significantly and photography shows are drawing more and more museum crowds.

But today at the Press Preview of the Irving Penn show opening soon at the de Young the quality of the photos she saw had her riveted. And she was actually fascinated by the techinical information the visiting curator from the Metropolitian Museum passed on.   Penn meticulously created his own settings, made his own paper, hand printed his photgraphs again and again with silver and other rich emulsions.  No lab assistants for any of this.  The resulting surface of his final products are often so thick and rich, they register much like paintings.  They are more lasting object rather than photograph.  And oh the depth and clarity; every photo in the show, no matter when taken, appears new, fresh immediate.

Here's Penn's beautiful wife, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, arguably the first super model, looking as breathtakingly alive as she did when Penn took this portrait in 1950.  This not just because of her stunning presence but also due to Penn's well considered lighting, rough curtain behind, positioning of the subject and rich printing. 

Irving Penn, Woman with Roses, (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn in LaFeurie Dress), Paris, 1950, Platinum-palladium print



Monday, March 11, 2024

A Few Favorites --- Day 13/66

Walk: Hood

Distance: 2 miles

Ciwt's favorite Oscar looks:

Ryan Gosling singing I'm Just Ken


Cillian Murphy with his well deserved Oscar (whew..)


Lupito Nyong'o in an icy blue Armani Prive gown

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Oscar Time --- Day 13/65

 

Walk: Hood

Distance: TBD


It's 11:22 a.m. out here in San Francisco; just 38 minutes until we can start watching Oscars-related tv programs on channel 7.1 (ABC).  Crazy!  Even crazier, if you forgot about Daylight Savings clock change and rush to your Oscars Countdown at noon, it will actually be 1:00 and you will miss the first hour.

She'll hold off until one of the Red Carpet shows when she can change her bed, set her clocks, do other household chores and be present for her 50+ year of Oscars viewing.