No matter where I am I’m always more concerned about negative human reactions by people who don’t like a stranger pointing a camera at them and taking unwanted pictures than robbers.
What to bring to a big city?
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Most people use cell phones to take photographs and think that cameras have no value any longer.
The meth heads don't know the difference between a Leica and a Canon and don't care. If you look or act like a chump they **might** bother to attempt to rob you.
Use whatever works best for you and just be alert to your surroundings, trust you gut, and you should be fine.
Use whatever works best for you and just be alert to your surroundings, trust you gut, and you should be fine.
I don't think anybody will bother you.
Don't shower for a few weeks while wearing the same clothes and no one will come near you.
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Calling it "Frisco" is the fastest way to announce to the world that "I am a tourist," thereby potentially drawing attention to yourself needlessly.
The next-fastest approach would be to spend all your time at Fisherman's Wharf and/or the Embarcadero.
OP
OP
Actually, I know the city fairly well and wouldn’t bother to spend time at the Fisherman’s Wharf or the Embarcadero tourist traps.
I haven’t been over there since the pandemic started and was curious as to whether all the stuff I’ve been hearing on the news is accurate. Guess I’ll just have to go there myself and check it out.
A longtime friend, a native of SF, calls it Frisco, and I suppose I’ve picked up the habit.
For dangerous shoots I used disposable cams.
Always call it Frisco. It has been called Frisco forever. And if nothing else it irritates the virtue signalers.
It’s been some years since I lived there, but no one who lived there called it “Frisco,” ever. Just ask the ghost of Herb Caen (some old timer natives will get that reference).
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OP
OP
Then you don’t know my friend Jack. He’s lived there all his life and always calls it Frisco. I think he does it to tweak the Johnny-come-latelies.
good shoes, plenty of water to drink...
- 28mm lens + camera + couple of rolls
- 28mm lens + camera + couple of rolls
Calling the city 'Frisco' doesn't bother/annoy/irritate anybody, it just causes confusion (Frisco is in Texas) and makes you look like a fool.
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On that topic, this is a fun read!
www.sftravel.com
Don't Call It Frisco: The History of San Francisco Nicknames
From Frisco to San Fran, the many nicknames given to the city of San Francisco display the diversity and history of this great city.
Skip Union Square because all the stores are closed.
On that topic, this is a fun read!
Don't Call It Frisco: The History of San Francisco Nicknames
From Frisco to San Fran, the many nicknames given to the city of San Francisco display the diversity and history of this great city.
Good one, and pretty accurate.
Perhaps more on topic, just get a feel for whatever neighborhood you’re visiting. You should pick up on the vibe. I was at a 50 year reunion at my old high school on Ocean Ave, walking around and finding a place to eat on Mission it didn’t feel much different from the old days. 20 years ago I was at a conference and the hotel was on the borderline of the Tenderloin- no way was I walking though that neighborhood, even then.
I live in LA (city of) now. There are areas I know I shouldn’t be in, especially after dark. But for the most part I feel comfortable and wouldn’t hesitate to be out making photos.
I used to (legally) carry a concealed weapon for worst case scenario insurance. For many years, I had no problems and people would walk up curious to see through the back of a view camera or ask about the Hasselblad.
No more. It's no longer safe even if armed.
Now I just avoid the big cities - LA, San Fran, Chicago, New York and their ilk are in chaos and freefall. The "reporting" on what's going on in these hellholes is dishonest and gives one the impression that crime isn't a serious problem. That is a lie.
Chicago is a good example. The crime rate was actually higher in the 1990s. What they are not telling anyone is that - while the rate is lower today - it has spread across the entire city like a cancer. Quiet, well mannered neighborhoods are experiencing violent thuggery in the form of carjacking, violent assault, and theft of all kinds. What used to be a problem localized to poor, drug trafficking areas, is now an epidemic across the city.
I have worked in- and near most of the big cities in the US. Unless there is a serious change in social and political policy, they are all going to become Detroit or worse.
I treasure the pictures I took in these places, because I will never again go there to take a picture or enjoy a fine restaurant.
I do not have your fears. Instead I just use common sense to guide me.
I am using common sense to guide me ... away from a very bad risk/reward ratio.
Same.
Opinions, especially nourished by prejudice and fear, are irrelevant. Stats don't lie.
I feel much safer in New York City today than I did in the mid-80s.
And, at the risk of repeating myself: poverty and homelessness is not synonyme of criminality.
Stats don't lie but context matters. I lived in- or near Chicago for many years. The total crime rate was considerably higher in the 1990s. But this misses two very important points of context:
1. Where crime is happening. It used to be localized and could be avoided fairly predictably. Now it's ubiquitous across the city. I routinely walked downtown at night by myself without any concern in the 1990s. I wouldn't do that today for any reason.
2. Dishonest reporting. {policy remarks edited out}
Poverty and homelessness are absolutely vectors for crime. We may decry that they exist, but to pretend otherwise is to not observe the obvious. There isn't a lot of crime in Nantucket, Chicago's North Shore, or Napa Valley, for example.
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A Chicago TV crew was on scene covering armed robberies. Then they got robbed, police say.
A Chicago TV crew covering robberies in the Wicker Park neighborhood was robbed on Monday while out on the story, police said.
A Chicago TV crew was on scene covering armed robberies. Then they got robbed, police say.
A Chicago TV crew covering robberies in the Wicker Park neighborhood was robbed on Monday while out on the story, police said.currently.att.yahoo.com
As I've not lived there in some years, I haven't been keeping up with the Chicago daily mayhem report but I did 3 seconds of searching and found this. What is noteworthy is that the murders here are not all in the "poverty and homeless" areas - they are city wide. It's tragic. Chicago used to be a crown jewel of the US:
39 shot, 8 fatally, over weekend in Chicago
At least 15 teenagers were shot, and an 11-year-old girl was shot accidentally, citywide between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.
chicago.suntimes.com
A few times in the late 70s I would drive into the City -- Frisco, San Fran, The Bay (or Gray, or Gay) Area, and so forth -- in the early morning hours (3-ish), park and walk around the city and watch it wake up. I was a little smaller -- 6'4", 220 lb...and could run long and hard if needed. However, as light hit the city and people emerged, it seemed to be that I was who the people would be avoiding! So it goes. I'd hit City Lights and wander about...just another longhair hippy in the City of Love.
The last time I wandered around there with a camera I was also pushing a stroller with three 2 year old boys in it (1999). Photo below -- a 20 yr old print, the RA4 chemicals were probably on their last legs, but a fun image.
Most dangerous thing to happen to me in SF was going to a free dinner and ending up at a Moonie farm for three days.
I suggest using a TLR -- few will know it is a camera....
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