36 snaps.

That was the discipline in the days of film. You only had 36 snaps on a roll, changing film was a pain, so you tended to try to make every one count.

So it was a fun exercise to limit myself to just 36 exposures on the Panny GX7, whose 32GB card assures me it can store 1850 RAW images …. The GX7 is the spiritual successor to the Leica M2, the Panny 14-45mm zoom updating the Leica’s 35mm Summicron, the single greatest street lens of that now distant era.

All were snapped in SF’s Mission District (hey! why not cheat a bit?) and I ended up with 28 keepers after the cull:

Hare’s a Baker’s Dozen of my favorites.

Stopped in traffic, this traffic warden was relaxed with an elegant grace:

Michael lives!

Who could resist the charm of such a setting?

The Mission District is rapidly gentrifying, driving the poor away:

A friend writes: “Did you know that all this “street art”, and the large scale bright color painting of buildings in otherwise dingy condition, is being actively employed by the government of Albania. The collapse of communism left them with the typical depressing communist landscape and the government wanted to do something to lift the people out of their malaise and give them hope for a better tomorrow. Bright bold color = brighter future….. and it seems to be working.”

Marxist protest art:

The corner store:

The Napper Tandy – lunch was a roast beef sandwich and a pint of Boddington’s Ale:

Painted Victorians on Capp Street:

Gentle humor from Wise Sons, who are still awaiting the Resurrection:

Graffiti timetable on 23rd Street at Harrison:

Mexicano AA at 21st Street and Capp:

At my old school, any boy with glasses – like me – instantly became ‘Four eyes’. Five eyes here would have given those bullies pause. This mural was hidden behind a plywood merchant’s on Harrison at 21st Street and the man there kindly let me in the back to snap it:

At the coffee shop at Harrison and 24th, these grizzled older guys were reliving their world travels. I used the GX7’s tilting LCD to compose this – a first for me: