Mean Streets

Meeting San Francisco District Attorney Harry Dorfman at the corner of Newcomb and Newhall is something I am looking forward too. When he rolls up in a Crown Victoria, an obvious unmarked cop car with a driver I don’t question the escort’s necessity. Even midday the area is crawling with people milling around. Suspiciously they eyeball me, the detective and Dorfman and spread the word “Po Po.”

I couldn’t feel safer though as the Dorfman starts joking about how this is going to make him famous and fantasizes that George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola will be lining him up for roles in the jointly directed Godfather IV. He can’t be any happier as one of the most difficult cases in his 23 year career comes to a close and it all started on this block in 2004.

David Hill, in his own words is a “Thugged out Nigga livin da mob life,” and three years ago the killing of San Francisco officer Isaac Espinoza shocked the community as the DA’s office said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty. Now after Dorfman lands a tough guilty verdict for intentionally killing a police officer, Hill is sentenced to life without parole.

The inspector asks me if I brought a gun and when I shake my head he says “That’s ok I brought mine.” He points at some gang graffiti on a wall nearby and jokingly asks me if I need any drugs. Afterwards I shoot some photos of the two of them and promise to send them each one.

Color for Color's Sake

Sometimes someone on a precarious ledge will say “but black and white photography is just oh so much better than color” in response to me exclaming that I like color better than black and white.

Black and white has its place just as color does. Personally, I am more drawn to color as I can achieve a much more diverse artistic expression, while black and white can be limiting. Most of us don’t see the world in black and white and when we see a photograph laid out in grayscale there is a visual cue that something is different. In that regard you can use black and white to your advantage. However color can be used to cue up that double-take, deeper look that draws your viewer in.

It is challenging to use color photography in such a way that the color imagery becomes meaningful beyond just a mere color photograph. Used in combinations with complimentary colors or primary colors, color adds a dimension and depth that is different and in some respects much deeper than black and white.