Upper Playground

Kelly Lee Barrett

November 9th, 2011

Los Angeles based photographer Kelly Lee Barrett continues to build a beautiful body of work that is an intimate tale about the human condition. Since moving from San Francisco to the city of angels, she has captured a series of playful moments that have given birth to a world filled with hallucinatory colors and psychedelic fueled adventures.

This exploration of our world has even found its way into our own hands via a set of handcrafted award winning photo-books. In them, she brings insight and humor into everyday urban life. The cleverly organized photos inspire multiple associations about how we communicate with one another in our fast paced culture. -James Pawlish / The Citrus Report

JP: Who is Kelly Lee Barrett? Tell us a little about yourself.

KLB: “You live among illusion and in the world of apparition. But there is a reality. You yourself are this reality, but you don’t know this. If you awaken to this reality you will see that you are nothing and being nothing you are everything”. -Kalu Rinpoche

So how long have you been taking photos? When did you decide photography was for you?

I’ve been shooting since I was a kid. Both my dad and grandpa were photographers. My grandpa set up a mini dark room in my bathroom when I was thirteen. I loved the smell of the photo chemicals. In high school, I had to choose between marching band and photography. Photography smelled better.

What kind of equipment do you like to use? Are you primarily shooting digital these days?

I love using my grandpas old Nikon lens and filters on my DSLR to get that analog film feel. I really can’t stand producing super poppy, crisp, digital photos. So easy and boring. I still like to break out all my traditional film cameras at times, but it gets too pricey since I shoot a ton. Digital shooting offers me more creative flexibility, archiving convenience, and affordability.

Your work has a dreamlike psychedelic quality to it. Can you explain your creative process?

I’m a very visual person. I like to create my own world, surrounding myself in things that make me happy, in hopes to block out the bad. I create dreamlike psychedelic images because I want to live in a dreamlike psychedelic world.

Are there any photographers or artists who have influenced your work?

I enjoy exploring Flickr. I’m addicted. There, I’ve discovered amazing photographers like Neil Krug, Ellen Rogers, Synchrodogs, Aëla Labbé. Other artists that inspire me are Miranda July, Ed Ruscha, Kenneth Anger, and Yoko Ono.

You’ve created a series of books that have featured a number of different themes. Is there a specific process you follow when designing them? Can you tell us how they’ve evolved since you first started?

I made my first photo book in college at U.C. Santa Cruz, after getting back from spring break in England. One night, I was sprawled out on the floor with all my photos from the trip and a bone folder from my print making class. I folded one of the photos in half and the light bulb in my head went on. Over the last ten years now, I’ve been hand-making my little books. I love presenting my images in book form, to create a visual story, in a portable, simple, intimate setting for the viewer.

I like to do all my shooting first. With no particular end result in mind. I then get everything printed and sprawled out on the floor. Next, I start playing with the images sequencing, creating associations and dialogue. The last stage is to construct the book using my bone folder and adhesive. The whole approach is very relaxing and meditative. Its a very time consuming, hands on, loving process.

You made the pilgrimage from San Francisco to Los Angeles a few years ago. Do you find the south to be a good home base?

Yes, I grew up here. I absolutely adored living in San Francisco, and will live there again. Though, its always good returning to your roots. I have a deep passionate love-hate relationship with LA. There is the typical ego maniac, materialistic consumer, don’t leave your house without high heels and a fancy car, kind of vibe that I don’t relate to. There is also a mysterious beauty, hidden gem, David Lynch, old hollywood vibe, that keeps me here. I love shooting and getting lost in the hollywood hills, luscious and quiet. The energy here in LA just keeps getting better; beautiful people and places coming out of the wood work every day. I feel very lucky to be living here in this exciting moment.

What are you working on right now?

I’m always shooting. I have a couple books in the works: my LA book set series, a pyramid book, a long-haired men book, and a ladies of Los Angeles book.

Whats currently on your playlist?

Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Madlib, Flying Lotus, Cut Chemist, Carlos Nina, Little Dragon, Lulacruza, Harry Nillson, Gwen McCrae, Angerine Dream, and Yes.

See more of Kelly’s photos and books at: www.kellyleebarrett.com

From The Citrus Report

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Tags: angeles, art, barrett, barrett-photography, Features, flying, house, kelly lee barrett, light, photography, photos, trip

National Maritime Museum’s exhibit, “High Arctic”

July 20th, 2011

If you want to experience the Arctic without the cold we’d recommend checking out National Maritime Museum’s exhibit ‘High Arctic’. You’ll get black lights and let loose in a room where you’ll interact with a synthetic arctic accompanied by a narrative of the trip conducted by Matt Clark.

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Tags: arctic, clark-high, flash, image6-215x165, maritime, matt clark, museum, national, national-maritime, trip

Opening Night Photos: San & Escif “See You in Croatan”

July 3rd, 2011

We opened our new gallery show last night at FIFTY24SF Gallery, See You in Croatan, featuring collaborative works and concepts by Spanish artists, San and Escif. The two took their road show to the gallery, with various inspirations and artworks about the trip and the process of collaboration featured in the gallery. It is definitely a great show to spend some time with, with intricate details and story lines in each portion of the show. Really great stuff.

All photography by Patrick Kawahara

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Opening Night Photos: San & Escif “See You in Croatan”

July 3rd, 2011

All photography by Patrick Kawahara

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See you in Croatan: A San & Escif Road Show

June 9th, 2011

San and Escif are traveling down the California coast on a painting trip before they return for their show back up in San Francisco at the gallery. Stay tuned as we update you more on their trip as they prepare for the show. Here’s a little snippet of their conversation during the planning process:

[ From Escif (11:02) april 9th
Llevo unos días dándole vueltas al proyecto y a la forma en que lo estamos enfocando. La idea de generar un tercer lenguaje me parece que no está funcionando, por lo menos en una valoración práctica. Ciertamente es un camino que debería fortalecerse durante el viaje, pero ya en los previos parece ser un impedimento más que un acierto. Trabajar en equipo es muy complicado, ya lo sabíamos, pero me parece que lo es mucho más cuando no se establecen funciones en el equipo . Es entonces cuando florece una lucha de egos por ver quien dirige la película (esto es una reflexión en voz alta) y es algo que se complica cuando los dos directores implicados (que somos nosotros) tienen maneras de trabajar tan diferentes. ]
I´ve been a few days thinking about the project, and about the way we are focusing on it. The idea of generating a third language seems like it´s not working very well, at least not in a practical evaluation. Certainly it is a path that should become stronger during the journey, but in the past experiences it´s seemed to be more an impediment than a right thing to do. Team working is very complex, we already knew it, but I think is lot harder when the functions on the team are not well established. It´s right then when the ego fight flourishes to see who’s the one who´s directing the movie (I´m thinking out loud) and its something that gets more complex when two of the directors (you and I) have such different ways of working.
[ From San (10:19) april 10th
Entiendo todo lo que me dices, creo que hay que ser prácticos, aunque a los dos nos guste tirar para terrenos mas pantanosos en cuanto a lo que solemos hacer por separado. El trabajo en equipo es duro, y mas cuando se trata de perfeccionistas compulsivos como somos, cada uno en su historia, pero es asi.
Cuando hice los 2 dibujos que te mande siempre pense en que lo que hacia era retorcer un poco mi trabajo para ir acercandome poco a poco a otra piel, no tanto a inventar un tercer lenguaje. Creo que ahi es donde estaría el punto de la expo. En hacer un esfuero por salir de la retaila de recursos y registros que tenemos cada uno para indagar en algo un poco más impersonal, pero utilizando nuestro power, por supuesto. ]
I completely understand what you say, I think we have to be practical, although both of us like to pull on more swampy (tricky) ways despite what we do on our own. Team work is hard and more when people like us, obsessively perfectionist, work together.
When I made the 2 drawings that I sent you, I always thought I was twisting my work a little bit to get near little by little to a new “skin”, not to invent a third language. I think that´s exactly where the focus on the expo should be, in making an effort to go out of our safe zone and dig in something a little bit more impersonal (less personal), but using our powers, of course..

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Tags: california, complica-cuando, conversation, FIFTY24SF, Gallery, more-impersonal, movie, News, pero-utilizando, project, san escif, see you in croatan, trip, work

See You in Croatan: A San and Escif Road Show

June 9th, 2011

San and Escif are traveling down the California coast on a painting trip before they return for their show back up in San Francisco at FIFTY24SF. Stay tuned as we update you more on their trip as they prepare for the show. Here’s a little snippet of their conversation during the planning process:

[ From Escif (11:02) april 9th

Llevo unos días dándole vueltas al proyecto y a la forma en que lo estamos enfocando. La idea de generar un tercer lenguaje me parece que no está funcionando, por lo menos en una valoración práctica. Ciertamente es un camino que debería fortalecerse durante el viaje, pero ya en los previos parece ser un impedimento más que un acierto. Trabajar en equipo es muy complicado, ya lo sabíamos, pero me parece que lo es mucho más cuando no se establecen funciones en el equipo . Es entonces cuando florece una lucha de egos por ver quien dirige la película (esto es una reflexión en voz alta) y es algo que se complica cuando los dos directores implicados (que somos nosotros) tienen maneras de trabajar tan diferentes. ]

I´ve been a few days thinking about the project, and about the way we are focusing on it. The idea of generating a third language seems like it´s not working very well, at least not in a practical evaluation. Certainly it is a path that should become stronger during the journey, but in the past experiences it´s seemed to be more an impediment than a right thing to do. Team working is very complex, we already knew it, but I think is lot harder when the functions on the team are not well established. It´s right then when the ego fight flourishes to see who’s the one who´s directing the movie (I´m thinking out loud) and its something that gets more complex when two of the directors (you and I) have such different ways of working.

[ From San (10:19) april 10th

Entiendo todo lo que me dices, creo que hay que ser prácticos, aunque a los dos nos guste tirar para terrenos mas pantanosos en cuanto a lo que solemos hacer por separado. El trabajo en equipo es duro, y mas cuando se trata de perfeccionistas compulsivos como somos, cada uno en su historia, pero es asi.
Cuando hice los 2 dibujos que te mande siempre pense en que lo que hacia era retorcer un poco mi trabajo para ir acercandome poco a poco a otra piel, no tanto a inventar un tercer lenguaje. Creo que ahi es donde estaría el punto de la expo. En hacer un esfuero por salir de la retaila de recursos y registros que tenemos cada uno para indagar en algo un poco más impersonal, pero utilizando nuestro power, por supuesto. ]

I completely understand what you say, I think we have to be practical, although both of us like to pull on more swampy (tricky) ways despite what we do on our own. Team work is hard and more when people like us, obsessively perfectionist, work together.
When I made the 2 drawings that I sent you, I always thought I was twisting my work a little bit to get near little by little to a new “skin”, not to invent a third language. I think that´s exactly where the focus on the expo should be, in making an effort to go out of our safe zone and dig in something a little bit more impersonal (less personal), but using our powers, of course..

From The Citrus Report

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Tags: california, conversation, escif, flash, project, SAN, trip, work

Going All The Way On Public Transit. From SF to LA That Is…

May 4th, 2011

How to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco is a sticky decision. You can fly, but no one likes airports. You can drive, but driving over 6 hours is not exactly pleasant either. If you’ve done this trip both ways (and too many times) like us, you also know it gets more expensive than you’d like. Apparently you can do it on public transit for only $45.52. Here’s the schedule:

Monday – Depart San Francisco Embarcadero Station

5:48 a.m. – Take inbound N-Judah light rail to 4th and King. Fare: $2.
Operator: Muni Metro. Schedule here.

5:57 a.m. – Arrive at 4th and King Station. Layover: 14 minutes.

6:11 a.m. – Take southbound Caltrain Limited 206 to San Jose. Fare: $8.50
Operator: Caltrain. Schedule here.

7:24 a.m. – Arrive at San Jose Diridon Station. Layover: 31 minutes.

7:55 a.m. – Take 55 Monterey Express bus to Prunedale. Pay the operator $10 for this fare plus a Day Pass.
Operator: MST. Schedule here.

9:22 a.m. - Arrive Prunedale Park & Ride. Layover: 40 minutes.

10:02 a.m. - Take 29 Salinas bus to Salinas. Fare: use Day Pass.
Operator: MST. Schedule here.

10:35 a.m. - Arrive Salinas Transit Center. Layover: 10 minutes.

10:45 a.m. – Take 23 King City bus to King City. Fare: use Day Pass.
Operator: MST. Schedule here.

12:18 p.m. - Arrive King City-Mee Memorial Hospital. Layover: 3 hours 57 minutes.

4:15 p.m. – Take 82 Fort Hunter Liggett Express. Fare: $2 with Day Pass. Inform the driver that you want to transfer to the 83.
Operator: MST. Schedule here.

4:40 p.m. – Arrive outside of Fort Hunter Liggett gate. Layover: 35 minutes.

5:15 p.m. – Take 83 Paso Robles Express. Fare: $2 with Day Pass.
Operator: MST. Schedule here.

6:12 p.m. – Arrive Paso Robles Transit Center. Layover: 8 minutes.

6:20 p.m. – Take 9 San Luis Obispo bus. Fare: $5 for Regional Day Pass.
Operator: SLORTA. Schedule here.

7:27 p.m. – Arrive San Luis Obispo Transit Center. Layover: 1 hour 6 minutes.

8:33 p.m. – Take 10 Santa Maria bus. Fare: use Day Pass.
Operator: SLORTA. Schedule here.

9:43 p.m. - Arrive Santa Maria Town Mall Transit Center. Layover: 8 hours 7 minutes. Find overnight accomodations in Santa Maria.

Tuesday – Depart Santa Maria Park & Ride at Hagerman Softball Complex

5:50 a.m. – Take Southbound Santa Barabara bus. Fare: $7.
Operator: Clean Air Express. Schedule here.

7:09 a.m. – Arrive Anacapa at Anapamu in Santa Barbara. Layover: 9 minutes.

7:18 a.m. - Take Coastal Express bus. Fare: $3.
Operator: VISTA. Schedule here.

8:00 a.m. – Arrive Pacific View Mall. Layover: 20 minutes.

8:20 a.m. – Take Highway 101 bus. Fare: $1.25.
Operator: VISTA. Schedule here.

9:24 a.m. – Arrive Thousand Oaks Transit Center. Layover: 6 minutes.

9:30 a.m. - Take Metro Local 161 bus. Fare: $1.50.
Operator: Metro. Schedule here.

10:45 a.m. – Arrive Warner Center. Layover: 14 minutes.

10:59 a.m. - Take Metro Orange Line bus. Fare: $1.50
Operator: Metro. Schedule here.

11:42 a.m. – Arrive North Hollywood Station. Layover 7 minutes.

11:49 a.m. - Take Metro Red Line subway. Fare: $1.50
Operator: Metro. Schedule here.

12:19 p.m. – Arrive Los Angeles Union Station.

From The Citrus Report

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Tags: arrive, arrive-anacapa, arrive-salinas, center-layover, coastal-express, driver, headlines, hunter-liggett, robles-transit, santa-barabara, station-layover, transit, trip

Dan Zev

April 14th, 2011

1. I live in Brooklyn but have spent the last month traveling around Israel and Palestine. It’s a completely different world over here and its full of great people to meet and crazy things to photograph.

2. I take pictures of whatever is front of me. I’m not a conceptual guy, I just shoot a lot and try to make sense of things later. The best thing I shot on this trip has to be the demonstration in Bel’in, a weekly demonstration against Israel that’s been going on in this small town in Palestine for over 6 years now. There are always lots of Palestinian kids throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers and the soldiers fight back with tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets. It was my first time taking pictures in that sort of environment while it was unnerving at first to see some guy pointing an M-16 at me I ended up having a lot of fun taking pictures of the whole thing. I didn’t even mind getting a face full of tear gas…it suckedfor 5 minutes but it wire off quick and I went right back to where the action was to get more flicks.

3. I shoot 35mm mostly. On this trip my Leica has been getting the most use but Ive also been using a couple of point and shoots. I always thing its great when someone sees me working and they’re all like, “wow you are using a really old camera!” Just because digital photography has really taken over…but a lot if people still shoot film and I think its an easy way to set yourself apart these days. For example, there were dozens of people taking pictures at the demo in Bel’in but I was the only one shooting film that day. That’s important to note.

4. I went to school for photography and got a BA in studio art from a mediocre state university. I didn’t learn much there. The photo classes I took in high school were way more beneficial in that they really hot me stoked on photography un the first place. Since coming to New York worked in a photo studio and assisted a lot of professional photographers and have just gone out everyday with a camera and taken pictures…that’s the best way to learn really.

But I am going back to school for Photography in the fall. The ICP in Manhattan has a really good photojournalism and documentary program, so I’m going to be committed to that for the next year.

5. It’s hard to say what my influences are, I have favorite photographers whose work I really dig but I’m not sure how much it really effects what I end up shooting. My friends probably have the most direct impact in my work, it seems like they are all involved with great projects and seeing thembe creative and going for it really motivates me and my work.

6. I have no idea where life is taking me. In a few years I hope to be doing my thing, being creative, working in projects, making stuff and getting paid to do it all. That’s the goal right? Getting over with as little compromise as possible.

7. Photography Skateboarding, Bikes, Friends, Rad times, World Travel and Not getting shot makes me happy.

See more of his work at: WWW.Danzev.com

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An Image From Pez on the way to LA

March 4th, 2011

As Pez continues his trip to Lost Angeles, he sent me this image of Arron Astrip, money man and gourmet food seller.

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The Journey Begins!!!!

March 3rd, 2011

This morning Pez embarked on a Journey to LA Via train. He met up with our friend Aron Astrip a street art collector, enthusiast, artist and general wild and kooky person. We met him after our You Cant Win Show in Portland and blogged about him in our first set of blog posts for the Citrus Report, when we traveled from Eugene on Bike to Portland.

Pez’s mission is to commit several acts of art making while down there including Painting some photo back drops for an LA based photographer. He will also reunite with some friends and capture Charlie Sheen and bring him to Tijuana where he can have all the prostitutes and drugs he wants.

Stay tubed for bi-daily images and updates from his trip.

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