Lightstalkers & SportsShooter Update...

It had been awhile since I updated my Lightstalkers and SportsShooter accounts, so I toned a few of my favorites in black and white and tossed up on both sites. The people over at SS were nice enough to put my photo essay on the front page.

Thanks guys!

Tent City Multimedia & a few thoughts about it all...

As I'm finishing up my final semester at San Francisco State University, I decided to spend my spring break doing something a little bit different. With help from my girlfriend, I packed a hiking backpack full of the essentials; sleeping bag, air mattress, tent, and a few changes of clothes.

Soon thereafter, I boarded the Capitol Corridor train and headed to Sacramento. After a night's rest at a friend's place, I ventured into a city within California's state capitol.

A city of homeless, with a place to call home.

Some were directly affected by our current economic crisis, while many more were not. After getting to know the people of tent city, I found that drugs, alcohol, gambling, and mental disorders played a serious role in peoples lives landing along the banks of the American River.

Living in tent city only compounded the problem for people who may have been on the fringe of these issues their entire lives.

I returned to San Francisco after 5 days of living under the sun, in the shadow of the state's capitol -- but I couldn't stop thinking about everyone that I had met along the way.

So I returned. Twice.

And continued to try and understand how the entire situation would play out, where the men and women would go and how the city would help them out of this disaster.

I'm still wondering, and hoping the City of Sacramento finds a long term solution to a serious problem -- not just a short term patch.

This was the first time I had ever worked on a project and embedded myself, and in the end I'm really glad that I did it. Although I was a little nervous for my own well-being at times, the gratification of being able to tell the stories of a few people who otherwise wouldn't have been heard is well worth it.

This story is not over. And I'm not finished with it.

Thanks for looking.

Gavin Newsom enters the race...

Mayor Newsom announced the he will be running for California governor, reminded me of a photograph I snapped of him...they were running it on his site for awhile...

Take a look if you like.

Gavin Newsom

(This in no way means that I am endorsing the dude)

Wasteland Alcohol Abuse

I don't know if this photograph will find a home in any of the final work I'll do on Tent City, but it reminds me of an ongoing occurrence there. Some people would start their days with alcohol, and only stop after getting sick or passing out. The man pictured (Steve) had spent most of his Easter Sunday afternoon drinking vodka as I was told.

He turned up missing from Tent City on Wednesday, April 15th after "killing a bottle of vodka and falling asleep in the park", said his neighbor David Cuch.

My best bet is that he went to jail.