FILM SHOOTER SHUNS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
BY NINA ROBINSON
EDITOR

This collage, shot only with film, captures different views of Ross Farrar, a purist wo laments what he thinks is the imminent end of film photography. PHOTOS AND COLLAGE BY NINA ROBINSON / GUARDSMAN

Film or digital, which do you prefer?

When film was popular, photographers depended almost completely on their skill. They did their cropping and correcting through the lens of the camera and tried harder to make sure their exposures were correct with bracketing or off -camera light meters.

Digital photography, on the other hand, is faster.

A photographer can view the image on the back of the camera and if they don’t like the shots they can erase them or shoot in raw format and fix the exposures in Photoshop. With a digital camera, one can shoot an unlimited number of frames at no extra cost –– not so with film.

Ross Farrar, a photography student at City College, says he thinks the photo industry today is terrible because the digital world is taking over. He says it is becoming more artificial than a craft.

His father was a photographer and gave him his first camera, a Nikon F1. Farrar shoots only film and says when film is gone he will stop shooting.

He has an edge to his photography, which could be compared to Mary Ellen Marks or Nan Golden –– the ability to view a simplistic scene and make it magnetic to the eye.

At 16, Farrar was turned on to photography by the work of Larry Clarke, a popular subculture photographer and film director. Clarke is known for his images documenting the drug use of his friends, and for the movie “Kids.” He is one of many visual artists who inspired Farrar to create a style he calls his own.

Cody Sullivan and Eugene Smith are other photographers who sparked Farrar’s interest.

Farrar had a show in late February in the Gallery Obscura on the Ocean Campus, called “Portraits from the North Bay.”

Many gallery shows look uniform. Often all the prints are one size and hung in a row. Farrar’s show was completely different. The pictures were a mixture of sizes, black & white and color prints, clustered together in a collage-like way, and the frames were of varied colors. This is a rare format for a photography exhibit. Critics might say this was taking an artistic risk but it broke the cliché style of “the photo exhibit,” and overall the exhibit was visually stimulating.

“Photography is very personal to me, the most personal thing that I do,” Farrar said.

e-mail:asstphotoeditor@theguardsman.com

STATE YOUR FASHION CITY COLLEGE
BY DESMOND MILLER
EDITOR

HIP HOP AND ROLLER CHRISTIAN WASHINGTON

Christian Washington, 26
Urban Prep

Living in San Francisco can be very expensive as everyone knows, and looking stylish can be very costly. For Christian Washington, getting the most for your buck is the No. 1 rule.

The only other questions Washington has for the type of clothes he wears are “are they cheap in price,” “are they colorful” and “do they match?”

“I shop at Ross and Marshall’s because I can get nice clothes and it’s pretty cheap,” said Washington. “ I like colorful clothes. I got the wrist band at the same time I got my shoes because they match.”

Washington works for Loehmann’s department store but rarely buys any clothes from them, even with his employee discount.

For slaves to fashion, Washington has this advice.

“For me it’s all about looking like you,” said Washington. “If the clothes look the way you want to look regardless of were you got them, wear them. Look like yourself, not Tommy Hilfiger.”

Alanna Wong, 18
Fashion that isn’t a Fashion

Like a ninja, Alanna Wong changes her fashion identity from day to day never repeating yet always taking the same clothes and forming new and interesting fashion choices.

From here rose pedal engraved glasses to the to the green apple shirt she got in Beijing, Wong has a worldly fashion sense that is beyond labeling.

“I wear what I want,” said Wong. “I got this beret from the women who lives down the street and the pin that’s on it, I got from a trip to Japan.”

The ankh pendant necklace she got from her mother when she graduated. The umbrella, on the other hand, is not part of the fashion.

“The umbrella was just in the house and I don’t know why I chose this particular one,” said Wong. “This is not part of my fashion.”

Wong was very surprised when she was asked to be in “State Your Fashion” this issue.

“I think ‘State Your Fashion’ is very interesting,” said Wong. “I’m just not sure why you pick the people you pick?”

e-mail:dmiller@theguardsman.com

REVIEWS
BY DESMOND MILLER AND LARRY SIMPSON
EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

MUSIC: Ol' Dirty Bastard, A Son Unique

You should already know that when it comes to the Ol’ Dirty Bastard expect the unexpected. He brought welfare checks to MTV, he brought the hood to the Grammy’s, his solo debut ushered in the Wu Tang era without really spitting raps in a traditional sense.
The posthumous “A Son Unique” might make you change your mind about that last one. Every verse Ol’ Dirt drops on this thirteen-track album is harder than anything you’ve heard in years. He effortlessly outshines every featured artist Rocafella got to go toe-to-toe with the late Russell Jones: Lil Fame, Ghostface, Method Man, The Clipse. In 2007 if you sleep on the ODB, you might as well R.I.P. –Larry Simpson

“Grindhouse” takes aim at your head and with a smile, pulls the trigger. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have managed to pay homage to the bygone era of the cheesy double feature with two distinct, original movies.
The first, entitled “Planet Terror,” directed by Rodriguez, is about an airborne plague, zombies and a woman with a machine gun for a leg. Tarantino’s “Death Proof” follows, after a few fake, homemade trailers by the director’s friends. That movie is about a crazed stunt driver who gets his kicks by killing women with his car. 
Each of the movies has its own distinct style, using crazy jump shots and missing film reels, and could work as individual movies. In fact, in some countries the movies are being released separately, months apart. This will take away from the experience because, regardless of which movie you like, you will love, all three hours and 15 minutes of it. –Desmond Miller