True/False + Mobile Funk Unit

 

Columbia's own Mobile Funk Unit took the stage, or the field in this case, on the last night of this year's True/False Film Festival in Stephens Park.     https://www.facebook.com/funkymusicinmotion/

True/False at the Missouri Theatre

The nocturnal pedestrian bustle of this year's True/False film festival.

Nocturnal Carp Invasion

For one beautiful weekend, the alley between 9th street and 10th street was swimming with a school of luminous, silver carp.  Thank you True/False.

Music at Cafe Berlin, True/False 2018

I once again enlisted myself as a volunteer photographer for this year's True/False Film Festival, and I was fortunate enough to be able to cover some of the evening music lineup at Cafe Berlin.  One of the acts that nearly brought down the house was New Creations Brass Band, from New Orleans.  They also didn't seem to mind that I like to get close when photographing musicians. 

Neighborhood in Winter

This image is from a few winters back, when we still had snowfall.  It was taken on a bitterly cold night during the Sochi Winter Olympics.  I set up a tripod in the bedroom and opened the window during the exposure.  The colors may seem a bit fantastic, but strange things happen to color and atmosphere on single-digit degree nights in February, especially during long camera exposures.  At first I had intended to seamlessly stitch the images together into a long, continuous panorama, but at the moment I like the effect of the white spaces between the singular images...it gives it the look of a vintage contact sheet.  I had long been considering a panoramic image of this particular portion of my neighborhood, and only in winter, when the trees are bare and darkness comes early, is this possible. Inspired in part by Russian literature, where winter seems to be constantly in season.

Twilight on Hitt Street

I don't take too many twilight photos downtown when I am trying to photograph downtown Columbia at night.  The light at this time of evening just doesn't look convincingly nocturnal.  Images appear weak, indeterminate, in between.  Josef Sudek was pretty good at using this kind of flat, hazy, low contrast light in some of his photos of Prague.  It is hard to feel sure about a grey-on-grey image, but here is one of Hitt Street back in March, 2016.  Ninth Street Video was still in business, or at least the sign was still attached to the front of the building.  I really miss that place.  So, an early spring evening on Hitt Street, downtown Columbia.

The old Mall, Business Loop Columbia

I think this is the first time a color image has shown up on the nighttime Columbia blog.  I thought about this one in black and white, but the color on the wet pavement was just too compelling to pass up.  Late October, 2016, on the business loop.

Sunglasses, please

To the regular followers of this irregularly-posted blog, I must offer one apology and one correction.  The apology is offered for the severe breech of protocol in posting a photograph of Columbia in the daytime.  That is not supposed to happen on this blog.  Ever.  But here it is.  In my defense, it was late evening in the summer, so it just looks bright out.  It really was more of an early dusk than a daylight.  And the correction?  In my last post I lamented the fact that Columbia's architecture seems hellbent on a course towards the bland, corporate, and unenjoyable.  That much is true.  However, in my short list of existing things that are still interesting to look at downtown, I believe I left this building out.  And it should very much be in.  This is the rear portion of the Cycle Extreme building, on Sixth Street.  This building has an original beauty and style that stands in remarkable contrast to the blandness darkening the blocks to its east.  It is difficult to get a photograph of this building by night, so here, I offer a daytime image.  I promise, this will never happen again.