semillerimages.com - Image of the Week 8.7.05 An Afternoon in San Miguel
Steve
This IOW is a little late because I had to switch web hosting services
this week. My apologies. Fortunately I got some decent paying jobs
enabling me to pay for a new service :)
In an effort to add to my portfolio of north county images I drove up
HWY 46 from the 1 to see what I could find. There are a lot of times
when I just jump in the car and look for something to photograph and I
just get lucky. I stopped initially along the 46 near some hills that
are covered with some orangish, yellow flower pod things... right off
of Vineyard Drive I think. It was rather warm and there were plenty of
sticky little plants that stabbed my legs as I tromped along the
roadside looking for a good vantage point to shoot. It was rather
amazing that quite a few cars slowed and asked if I needed assistance.
I waved them off with a light feeling that there is still a little
courtesy left in the world, even for a barbarian looking guy walking
the highway. I was glad I took my keys out my car though, which I
usually do not do when I am looking around the roadside... a beginning
of the contrast of my little afternoon vacation. When I finished taking
a series of pitiful images of this sampling of hills, I walked back up
the road, sweating like a pig and jumped back in the car to enjoy the
brutal heat of the Paso Robles afternoon.
I sped up the 101 passing the fair in progress. I don't remember the
rides that I saw from the freeway from the one time I went to the fair
years ago. They were impressive for the fact that they are portable,
nothing more. I generally avoid the fair because of the heat, expensive
prices and the hordes of people. Maybe someday a band that I like will
play and I will be beckoned back for a second trip. I don't believe
that will ever happen.
I jammed up the freeway to San Miguel. Earthquake stricken, soon to be
another massive pre-designed suburb San Miguel. I really did not know
what I was looking for, but I pulled off the freeway, admired the old
mission architecture and eventually parked beside an abandoned building
across from the railroad tracks. Popping my 24mm tilt and shift lens on
my camera, I proceeded to stroll around the downtown area, snapping
pictures of the decrepit buildings along the way.
In past image of the week emails, I have expressed my admiration for
decrepit things, and as I walked around San Miguel I was thinking about
the new construction in San Luis Obispo as it compared to these
buildings. It struck me as amusing how the architects try their best to
blend in new buildings with the old in SLO, yet they build these
structures and they look fine yet they have no character or
personality. Does age lend character in a building? The logic does not
apply with the Disney concert hall in LA... brand new building, ages of
character. I am struggling with this. I struggle also with the
application of years of technical training to artforms, whether it be a
photograph, a building or a painting.
The wild thing about San Miguel, is that it is like being in a third
world country. It's like being in Mexico... and I love it. I love it,
but then again I know I can come back to my fine apartment with a
fridge full of food and a soft bed to sleep in. I cannot help but enjoy
the atmosphere though. I went to the local market which is also a
taqueria. The sign on the door says 'Tortilleria Sinaloa'. I walked in,
bought a 24oz Tecate, and paid for two tacos. I wasn't really hungry,
but the temptation of the freshly made tortillas, warmed on the bbq
outside along with the beer was too hard to resist. Armed with my paper
bagged beer and my styrofoam packaged tacos, I pretended I was back in
Puerto Vallarta and sat against the abandoned Mission Restaurant then
ate and drank. The street was active with traffic. Fine SUV's with
boats, expensive foreign automobiles, big trucks whizzed by like ghosts
from the future passing through an anachronistic town in SLO county. It
was wonderful. I forgot that I had worked that day.
With a little liquid inspiration, I continued my stroll through the
neighborhood. Vignettes of life popped out at me and my finger pressed
the shutter button. The streets beyond the main drag were devoid of
people. The minutes passed like seconds, the hours sauntered by.
Absorbed in my work, I reveled in the smallest details I could find.
The light was waning when I finally got back in my car and drove
further north. I found a stack of hay and ended my photo vacation
there. When I was driving back home, I felt astonishingly refreshed. A
simple evening doing what I love, forty miles from my home, yet it felt
like I flew across the world to see how other people live. I wish that
all the people who live in San Miguel could have an easy life like me,
relatively speaking, but I also would dread the day there were no San
Miguel's because the character of the world would be so boring. I
struggle with that.
There are 50+ images in the following link. Chronologically ordered as
I went about my wandering of the town and the outskirts. The first
screen will be a thumbnail set. If you click on the first thumbnail it
will pull up a full sized picture with a 'next' link at the bottom.
Just keep clicking next and you will go through the entire set.
One of the images, toward the end I have printed as a 30x60" print. It
is a glorious image. If you want to know which it is, you will have to
visit the Paso Robles City Hall next month to see my showing courtesy
of my good friend Cathy David.
http://semillerimages.com/iow-link/iow-8-7-05/
Your comments on the images are welcome, as are purchases...
Take care,
*steve