A trip to San Francisco to find myself and find my long lost best friend.
Continuing my desperate search to find where I want to spend the next four years of my life, my mom and I threw clothes in a bag and jumped on a plane to San Francisco.
Never having stepped foot in the Bay, it was an absolute beautiful time. From the pastels to the symmetry of the housing, everything just took me by amazement.
We flew in late thursday, which ended up being a very long six and a half hour direct flight of being uncomfortable and forcing myself to find a way to fall asleep.
Waking up friday to hoodie weather and an entire day ahead of us, we threw on hoodies and hit the road.
We went downtown where we caught one of those double decker busses that brought us over the Golden Gate bridge and gave us the run down of the area.
We ended up in what I thought seemed to be the SoHo of San Fran, which ends up being called Haight Ashbury, a shopping district where brands like Benny Gold and Pink Dolphin sourced from. We shopped for a bit and I examined clothing, brand imagery, and of course the set up of the stores.
Just like Supreme in New York on Lafayette on a Thursday, the Pink Dolphin workers were too cool to answer my questions and talk brands to me. But it was cool. I get it.
Black Scale, on the other hand was lit. A dope shop and a very strategically aestetically pleasing (tounge twister) shop, I had to pay my dues. I copped a nice coat.
Later on, I reuined with the person who taught me everything I knew. Early last year I became best friends with a kid named Dave (click link to see his instagram where his photo website is linked). He ended up going to school at University of San Fran.
So I dropped my pin and within a few minutes he rode up on his board. From there on out, we skated, shot photos, and went to dinner.
We ended up getting a ZipCar near USF and my mom, Dave, and I ended up grabbing a bite to eat downtown as the sun set. A marvelous time and a good experience learning about school and living in California, we all enjoyed ourselves.
Following our meal, my mom caught the Uber back to the hotel we were staying at and Dave and i hit the streets. We still had the car for a while.
Around two years ago, I met this kid Erik through the internet. He had nice photos that I would see on twitter from time to time. One day I saw him post about living in 'The Bay'. So i hit him up and asked if he wanted to shoot. He was instantly down.
So Dave and I went downtown and picked up Erik . Dave knew of a rooftop nearby so we hit that.
We fronted that we knew some kid that lived in the appartment building. It was one of those HIGH CLASS places. You know, with the marble floors and the guy at the desk that buzzes you in when you approach the building.
"Keep it cool. I got it" Dave said as we walked in, cameras hidden in our bags. Our excessive streetwear head-to-toe fits kind of proved we werent the ones affording an appartment for $4,000 a month, but Dave knew a kid that actually did live there. So we said we were visiting him. We signed in and caught the elevator right up to floor 27.
Jumping out at 27, we caught the next one to the roof.
This was one of those roofs for the rich. We hit one just like this on Wall Street in New York (images available in other block views on home page). There were fire places, various designer tables, heated grounds and even ARTIFICIAL GRASS.
That's when you know it's lit.
We shot up there for a while. Got some good photos in for my new hat release (Listen To The Kids Cap) and some good portraits.
Overall a great time. Erik was super chill to hangout with and shoot with. We all shared stories and backgrounds and how we got into photo. It was cool.
The sun had been long gone and it was getting relatively cold so we decided to go back to the car and head out. We got Erik to the bus and I dapped him up and he left. It's crazy to think of the probability that I'll never see him again. Being 3,000 miles away, I can't just hit him up every night to shoot. But it was one for the books. Speaking of that, he published a 106 page photo book, he's expecting it to come out before November ends. Keep an eye out. A good purchase.
The night was fun. USF is cool.
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The next day was alot of seeing University of San Fran on my tour and all that jazz. We shot a bunch and went around SF. We caught another rooftop for the night show and killed it. At the end of the night we ended up back at the dorms for a quick sesh then I got an Uber back to my apartment.
It was so nostalgic being in Dave's room. The photos from our old schemes in New York just made me miss the old times. Well, it brought hope for the future, too.
A well deserved hug between us went down, as well as an east coast handshake goodbye. None of that west coast dap stuff. That's whack. Super whack. If you're from the west coast you know what I mean. And if you're from the East Coast just know it's whack.
I got to the hotel and hit the pillow and fell asleep. I spent all day on a plane editing photos from time to time and killing hours watching Law and Order. God, watching TV drains me.
Back to Boston for a week of exams and schoolwork. Quarter 1 is ending this week. I'm doing good but can't let anything slip. Overall, an awesome few days. A good escape from home.
Much love for San Fran.
