Category Archives: Freelance Reporting

My Grandfather’s Cameras

Posted on by under Freelance Reporting, Gear, Personal, Sports

Part 5: Polaroid 150

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This is part 5 of an on-going series
titled "My Grandfather's Cameras."
I never met my paternal grandfather,
Robert Diefenbach.
He passed away in 1969.
His small collection of cameras sat
in a basement for 45 years until
they were handed down to me in the
spring of 2014, still loaded with film.
Read more in Part 1: Argus C4, Part 2: Argus C3,
Part 3: Kodak Retina, and Part 4: Kodak Tourist

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This is my grandfather’s 150. It is huge. It is both complicated and simple at the same time.

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The Jungle is Torn Down

Posted on by under Freelance Reporting, News

300 or so men, women and some children were recently pushed out of a San Jose homeless encampment aptly named “The Jungle.”

I was sent on assignment by Reuters, but by then time I got down to the site’s location near the heart of Silicon Valley, everyone had been kicked out and the clean up crew had already begun their task. I was able to find a way back into the jungle and came across a handful of homeless people who had snuck back in to reclaim some of their belongings, but also search for treasures left behind by others.

Below, Anna Haynes bathes herself in some of her drinking water before taking her cart out of the Jungle.

Homeless encampment occupant Anna Haynes pours water on herself as authorities break down massive homeless encampment known as "The Jungle" in San Jose, California

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Diving into the Deep Sunset Reservoir

Posted on by under Feature, Freelance Reporting

Whenever I travel outside of the United States, I am reminded how young San Francisco really is. Despite reaching its sesquicentennial (150 years), the city by the bay has a infrastructure that has been updated multiple times. The biggest instigator of this was likely the 1906 earthquake, but nearly half the city is only 70-80 years old.

The majority of the west side of San Francisco wasn’t built until the 1930’s, with some homes being finished even later into 1950’s. Thus we have massive water reservoirs dispersed through out our sprawling, younger neighborhoods. The same is missing from the older (east side) of the city.

The Sunset Reservoir serves the neighborhood by the same name, and although it is relatively new in comparison to a lot of American infrastructure, this reservoir has needed a lot of updating to keep it safe (from earthquakes mostly).

Built in the 1930’s as an open air reservoir, the Sunset basin has seen multiple upgrades. The massive pair of basins was covered with a concrete slab some time in the 50’s or 60’s and added fencing after 9/11 gained a bit of security. In 2008, the reservoir was massively upgraded to withstand a near 8.0 quake and later received solar panels on its roof.

But despite the modern amenities, the Sunset reservoir needs to be inspected and cleaned by hand. This is where to municipal divers come into action. I had the pleasure of following one diving crew on their sweep of the basin for the San Francisco Chronicle. Read their story here.

Notes

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My two lives with Candlestick

Posted on by under Freelance Reporting, Sports

I am grateful the Superbowl is over. As a 49ers fan, watching such a one-sided match is like Bill Clinton watching President Barack Obama’s performance in the first debate against Mitt Romney and thinking, “damn… I could have done so much better.”

But let’s be positive. Let’s remember the last big hurrah we got to enjoy at the home of the San Francisco 49ers. I had the amazing pleasure to photograph the final game at the ‘stick for the San Francisco Chronicle. But the honor didn’t stop there.

My partners on the final home game of Candlestick were the Chronicle’s veteran Michael Macor and John Storey (the photographer who made “the catch“). I carpooled with the two of these photographic mentors to the stadium, sitting in the back seat trying to keep my mouth shut. I just listened to them rag on Candlestick the whole way and it was great.

By now you have heard about the sorry venue that is Candlestick Park. It is cold (for California), too far away, and just plain ugly. A victim of 60’s multi-use concrete construction philosophy, the park held a strong spot in my heart not because of the building, but because of what it housed. The Giants and the 49ers in the early and mid-90’s were powerhouses. And both played at the ‘stick.

I was just a child in elementary school at the time, so the years of Matt Williams, Will Clark, Robbie Thompson, Steve Young and Jerry Rice hold an extra special place in my heart. That is the age in which a child choses his heros.

I have two very different relationships with Candlestick Park. In one, I am a kid catching a ball tossed to me by second baseman Robbie Thompson. In the second, I am a freelance photojournalist covering the San Francisco 49ers. Both memories are very vibrant but are in no way related to each other. Separated by the Giant’s move to AT&T Park and my 7 year stint in the Midwest, my relationship with the ‘stick is fractured.

So let’s move on from the anti-climatic end to the Niners’ 2013 season and re-live the last great sport experience at the ‘stick: the San Francisco 49er’s 34 to 24 defeat of the Atlanta Falcons on December 23, 2013 (yes it has taken me this long to write a blog post about it).

Russell Yip 415-215-0652 CQ

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The Old Guard vs the Disruptors

Posted on by under Freelance Reporting

In San Francisco, technology is crashing the old school party.

One side of the housing crisis in San Francisco is filled with people calling on the city’s leaders to legislate away the evictions taking place in the city. Never mind the fact that the city’s stranglehold on neighborhood development means we aren’t building nearly enough housing to compliment demand.

But forget the gentrification of neighborhoods. The gentrification of jobs is what started all this. Just like how your local crappy burrito place can no longer afford the rent in the Mission, the status-quo service industry wages can no longer afford San Francisco.

People who held down a job for 30 years are getting pushed out of a city they call their own. Now a new guard comes into place and asks “Who the hell would want to stay at the same job for 30 years?”

It is trivial to reduce this as a battle of us vs them. This is a struggle by each person in the pursuit of happiness (A.K.A America – supposedly). For many young, college educated people in San Francisco, happiness means changing the world (with technology). Change often means disruption – the bigger the better.

This is possibly the biggest ideological difference between the residents being pushed out and newcomers taking over the East side of San Francisco. One side is fighting to change the world. The other is fighting to stay relevant.

A visual representation of this clash occurred before me while on assignment for Reuters outside of San Francisco City Hall back in July. Taxicab drivers were staging a protest and mini-strike to demand a level playing field with ride share companies Lyft, Uber and Sidecar – all of which don’t require pricey medallions, special insurance and a host of other things.

Normally these demonstrations are pretty one-sided. Angry people show up, shake their fists and knock down some strawmen.

However, this time a Sidecar driver actually showed up to defend his position – clad with “Sidecar bunny ears”. Taxicab drivers are already known to hurl slurs through the windshield of the ride sharing drivers. But this time they got to express their frustration directly at the face of the threat to their establishment – sans windshield.

The confrontation was still very one sided as a dozen middle aged men went after a single man in his 20’s, but nonetheless I haven’t seen any such direct confrontation between the old guard and the disruptors.

Sidecar driver Teddy Ordon (center)attempts to answer questions while San Francisco taxi drivers voice their opposition against ride sharing programs taxi drivers say are operating illegally in San Francisco, California, July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach (UNITED STATES)

Sidecar driver Teddy Ordon (center)attempts to answer questions while San Francisco taxi drivers voice their opposition against ride sharing programs taxi drivers say are operating illegally in San Francisco, California, July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach (UNITED STATES)

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