Keystone Korner, 1970

Keystone Korner, in San Francisco, was a jazz and blues club in the late 60’s till1983. It apparently moved to Baltimore in the 80’s, which seems weird. I was only 18 at the time this photo was taken so would not have been allowed in to listen. There is some disinformation online that the club didn’t open till 1972. I didn’t time travel to the future 2 years when I took this photo, so I’m convinced it opened in the 60’s. On the bill when I took this photo ( on a very cheap camera and scanned in to an iMac) is Boz Scaggs and Benny Cecil and the Snakes (couldn’t find anything online about Benny on multiple search engines).

TBT:A Glimpse Back in Time

Another blogger, SunandGold, recently did  a posting from her time spent in San Francisco. Her interest and fascination with the city/culture was shared by me 45+ years ago. I promised I would post these photos from 1970 in one posting ( rather than individual posts that I did in the past) so she could get a slight inclination of what the city was like all those years ago, measured against her recent visit to the city.

If you look closely at the image of Vanessi’s you will see a woman walking alongside the building, having come down Telegraph Hill. The image below, looking up that same street, shows a lone man in a suit walking to work ( this was a morning shot). Anyway, two points:the woman is wearing a scarf. This type of dress or accessory died off or fell out of favor shortly after this time. Also, personally for me or about me, both of these images portray the individual /subject as being a small, insignificant part of the world they are captured in, in terms of composition. To this day I have continued this approach, portraying a sense of ‘aloneness’, in many street shots of people. It almost seems like an unconscious methodology or approach to people. Even in the most crowded of spaces, people find themselves isolated. The images with cars in them also help validate the point in time in which I shot these film images all those years ago.

 

I think the rest of the images are, for the most part, self explanatory. Of interest might be the image adjacent to the City Lights Bookstore. If you look at the reader board on the building you can actually read the band/musicians on the bill for that week, which in some sense helps to corroborate the time at which the image was shot. Keystone Korner was a great venue for catching current musicians such as Boz Scaggs and Bennhy Cecil and the Snakes! I think it was an over 21 club, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for going along for this short ride into the past with me!

“Meet me Where the Pavement Ends” (B&W version)

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A Black and White version of the previous posting. Shot in 1996 on film. Once I scanned it into a PC a few years ago, I have made some minor adjustments, cropping and contrast mostly, converting to B&W. Of the thousands of images I have shot since, this one remains in my top ten. Interestingly enough, I have shown this image in at least three shows, and it has never sold. My next door neighbor, Hanna, my wife and daughter love it though. So, all is not lost :-).

Garfield School: 1970 and Today

Scanned from a 35mm print taken in 1970; just below Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, is the Garfied School. In the far background you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. The other two images show the Garfield School today, officially named Garfield Elementary School. Adjacent to the school you can see a two-tiered outdoor playground (with students playing) for the students.IMG_0005 images e5c57563-bd2f-434f-bed7-ee093a99c5b6_d

TBT: SF Gas Station, July, 1970

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I’m not sure if this gas station is still there, but it was located about a block south of North Beach, in downtown San Francisco in 1970. I always thought it was odd that an Asian-themed design was not in Chinatown, but rather near the Italian section of SF. I guess Chevron, in their corporate wisdom, thought differently. This image was scanned from an old print shot on an Agfa 35mm camera.

Looking Back Thursday: Telegraph Hill

Looking down Telegraph Hill towards the south. Photo taken in July, 1970. I thought it was really interesting that the sidewalks were actually sidewalk-steps, which made sense considering the grade of the hill. Also, the Bay Windows, I thought, were really neat architecturally. And, the cobblestone street (sometimes there was a layer of cement over the stones, but the cement never seemed to work well)-with all of its bumps, etc. Like stepping back farther in time than even 1970.IMG_0004 - Version 2-001