Film log #1

I'm going to try and keep a log of all the film I get back, telling a little about some of the best frames (or half frames in my case).

These were shot on the new Kodak Ektar H35N. It's somewhat of a novelty given that it shoots on half a frame of 35mm film. The lab I go to for film development hasn't seen a camera like this before or since me. Overall, it's a good camera for its price, but I lack the quality I really want.

Onto the raw, unedited film!

These photos were taken in Salt Lake City, Utah. Some are actually on the salt lake for which the city is named. I was in SLC for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Conference. I led the Berkeley delegation, providing funding and logistics as one of the Co-Presidents of our chapter.

Next up are some photos from my trip to Los Angeles, California, and some actually of the city I call home. The people from my side of LA get pretty particular about where they live. I liken it to the way NYC has boroughs. My community is El Sereno. It's definitely not the part of LA that people even want to visit, but I happen to think it's incredibly beautiful. We've got hills, valleys and trees that rise beyond the building heights. We've got a people that are committed to each other. Honestly, we've got it all.

Next we've got the LA that most people think of: luxury, the beach, and sunny weather. It's not really the LA I'm familiar with to be honest. People ask me "did you go to the beach a lot as a kid?" The answer is no. I didn't get to hang around Hollywood or Venice Beach. It's nice and all, but to me it's missing what makes LA special. It's hard to describe, but even the difference in imagery is evident.

A couple of days after I returned to Berkeley, California, the University of California began what I assert is an occupation of People's Park. The University hired over 1,000 police officers to "protect" an effort to wall off People's Park with shipping containers. The actual beginning of this was well-documented and literally livestreamed. Make no mistake: what the University is doing here is taking the Park by force. They have, once again literally, restricted all access to it and destroyed all life that once existed on it. Officers were recorded using excessive force and threats on protestors. Whether the University has a legal right to do this is a question entirely separate to the question of if the methods used are right or wrong. In the latter matter, I believe they are unequivocally wrong.

It is getting far too common in the US to see a straight up army fighting against civilians. If the government are supposed to be for the people, why are they actively fighting the people? The implicit suggestion here is that the rights and wants of the University outweigh those of the people who both use and live on the Park. The issue is currently unresolved, but something has to change—the University can't hold control of the Park forever.

This a pretty sad place to end my first film log, but that's also where it ended for me. I watched this go down: I left Berkeley for a couple of hours and I returned just after the night raid began and the streets blocked off. I hope that the next film log starts off a little happier. (I have no idea I forgot what the first pictures of my next roll are already lol)