Pier 24 in San Francisco

Another highlight I had while in San Francisco was visiting Pier 24. It was highly recommended by Emily, who had spent some time working there last year. The space is owned by collector Andy Pilara and located at the foot of Bay Bridge. I had no idea what it was about, I only knew that one had to do a lot of advance planning as admission is free but limited to 20 people every 2 hours with appointments made a full month in advance. Talk about anticipation!

July 21

The goal of the space is "to provide an environment to experience and quietly contemplate photography." Mission accomplished. Descriptives from my experience there include...elegant, quiet, somber, contemplative, expansive, reflective and introspective.

Stepping into the gallery, I walked up to a huge photograph. I was caught off guard because there were NO identifying labels on the wall , neither the title or the author of the work. I found myself perplexed and confused, trying to identify, label or add any context to the work. This shifted into feeling slightly panicked. I went to the front desk to find out about the piece and was politely given a brochure with identifying information. It was created by Richard Misrach and titled 2.21.00; 4:38pm 2000 (from the series, Richard Misrach:Golden Gate).

However, I then quickly abandoned the brochure and settled into JUST LOOKING. I felt an incredible freedom to JUST BE with the work. I found myself engaged with the work in a new, fresh way.

The experience has led me to reconsider the use of text with my work.

The exhibiton, titled HERE, was really strong. It will be up until December 16th and I highly recommend it. It is about the San Francisco Bay area and features many heavy weight photographers. I especially enjoyed the pairing of Eadweard Maybridge and Mark Kletts panoramas, John Chiara's camera obscura images, and the works of Todd Hido,Larry Sultan, Jim Goldberg, and Henry Wessel.