Tag: urban photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 7, 20249:11 pm

One Day in April

On this date 17 years ago, I visited the Capitol Mall for the second-to-last time before our relocation to San Diego about six months later. Nearly six years after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, against the Pentagon and World Trade Center, Washington, D.C. had returned to some semblance of normalcy.

Fast-forward to today, and what’s not different? The craft of politics is a toxic enterprise. Congress is a case-study in paralysis. If only Elon Musk had developed a Neuralink that could get government moving again. I can’t imagine going back, even while regretting having left.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 5, 20249:20 pm

Be a King or Queen for a Night

While black-and-white photography might seem, ah, colorless, it is striking coming from Leica Q2 Monochrom. Take, for example, the Featured Image, which is sharp edge to edge. Pixel-peepers, please, go for it—and to assist you the companion capture is a close-crop for your perusal.

Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 200, 1/160 sec, 28mm; 2:31 p.m. PDT, April 2, 2024. The original is composed as shot. Venue: Lafayette, the recently remodeled, iconic hotel located in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 4, 202410:59 pm

Capturing Crown Daisies

When deciding whether to move from the Galaxy S23 Ultra to its S24 successor, I wondered if Samsung’s iterative design would be better enough. Yes! Display’s reduced reflectivity, 2600-nit screen brightness outdoors, insanely long battery life, and Galaxy AI are among the refinements that matter. That said, I am most satisfied with the photography experience.

Colors are less saturated and more accurate. Photos are no longer over-sharpened and, related, they are more natural looking. Clarity is improved, and often shots satisfy straight from the smartphone—little to no editing required. The Featured Image is an example.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 2, 20249:32 pm

Changing Priorities

With increasing mayhem—everything from armed robbery to migrant mischief to unpredictable homeless encounters—self-protection gurus council people, particularly among vulnerable populations like older folks, to practice situational awareness. Stated simply: Pay attention to your surroundings.

Most people are clueless, at least around my San Diego neighborhood. Every day, I see dozens and dozens of folks, many of them walking dogs, wearing Apple AirPods—and thus tuning out by tuning in, so to speak. They don’t pay attention—as they should, if for no other reason than the increased amount of traffic precipitated by increased population density. Previously quiet streets suddenly are quite congested.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 1, 20249:43 pm

You’re Going the Wrong Way

Strange: I have walked through this intersection countless times over the years and only today recognized the anomalous road sign(s). In the Featured Image, bikers are given distances to destinations that are behind them—meaning where they came from. In the companion capture, of the sign on the other side of the roundabout, information is accurate for everyone riding East towards Normal Heights.

Ah, yeah. Maybe you are unfamiliar with the area and turned onto Meade from a perpendicular street a few blocks away. Based on the first sign, you would be mislead to think that you’re eight-tenths of a mile (1.29 kilometers) from University Heights. The Meade-Utah traffic circle is often nasty with cars, so a biker paying attention to incoming vehicles could easily miss the second sign.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 30, 20249:16 pm

She Sits Still

Words that describe San Diego: Character, personality, variety. The Featured Image and companions are examples. This charming display is more elaborate and expansive than the photos reveal. The property sits at Howard and Hamilton in North Park.

But change is afoot. Recent public policy push to add more residences—by way of so-called Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and high-rises, often where were single-family homes—transforms the look and feel of many neighborhoods. BLVD North Park and Winslow are examples of the new architectural artifices.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 29, 202410:47 pm

Doll and Books

Because Cali overtook my lap—and I let her—posting is later than planned and topic changed. Please pardon another black-and-white Featured Image—from Leica Q2 Monochrom. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4.5, ISO 200, 1/3200 sec, 28mm; 1:01 p.m. PDT, March 26, 2024. Composed as captured.

I came upon the doll and collection of reference books—put out free for the taking—while walking along Madison Ave within the corridor where North Park wedges between San Diego neighborhoods Normal Heights and University Heights.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 28, 202410:05 pm

Graffiti Booth

This morning, my wife and I visited with the owner of Guido and Little and long-lost neighborhood favorite Bruce; all three appear in my “Cats of University Heights” series. Meanwhile, despite her disconcertion, tree cutters ravaged her rental property’s plants and trees; landlord’s doing.

Chitchat bounced about topics and somehow trapsed upon payphones—or the lack of them; their disappearance. Coincidentally, on March 26, 2024, I photographed the remanent of one in black and white at the corner of Howard and 30th in North Park.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 26, 20249:30 pm

The Sitter

I had planned to close-crop the Featured Image but altered after looking at the context in relation to some past posts (follow the links). The young women sits on a wall alongside the Sprouts market; that sidewalk stretch is a frequent homeless hangout.

To the far right is the entrance to the local library’s book sale room, which is open the third weekend of every month. My recent purchases include the first five volumes of Talk to Me in Korean and ye olde history books.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 25, 202410:39 pm

Whom Do You…

The answer related to the Featured Image is easy: No one. I am a fact-oriented journalist, who trusts nobody—nor should you in this era of mass misinformation. With perhaps the exception of Matt Taibbi, there isn’t a soul among my profession whose news reporting I would accept as factual—that is without some independent verification of my own.

We live at a time when commentary and editorialization—narratives, if you prefer—supplant real reporting. Everyone is an armchair analyst with an opinion, and not enough emphasis is placed on gathering facts and assembling them into a meaningful story that unfolds some current event or reveals something legitimately in the public interest.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 24, 202411:00 pm

Cancelling Christ Feels Familiar

If you’ve seen this sign before on my website somewhere, do tell me. I can’t find it. Because I so meant to share the message nearly four years ago (June 26, 2020). The United States was in turmoil, with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 restrictions making most everyone stay in and widespread looting, protests, and riots pulling people out onto the streets.

Do you remember the chaos, and rampant cancellation? You know: anyone who dared to defy the social media mob’s cries for equity, justice, and racial identity—all while fostering division and segregation that contradicted the presumed purpose of progressives. Black lives mattered, and including any other group(s) made you a racist.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 23, 20249:31 pm

A Fine Fence

There is a purity to black-and-white photography that can make the mundane more—or at least, not less. The Featured Image, captured with Leica Q2 Monochrom, is today’s proposed proof. I unlikely would have stopped to shoot the fence in color, which would have distracted from the rather plain object.

But B&W draws attention to the straight lines of the wood, and even to the structure’s apparent purpose: To protect the tree, which could attract dogs and their owners willing to let the mutts defecate or urinate either upon the grass or at the trunk. Park Blvd in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood bustles with pedestrians and leashed animals. The simple fence is purposeful.