What's new in San Francisco Bay Area Arts? This section will be updated to include interesting happenings within Artists Moving and the wider art world. We'll also be profiling up and coming artists to watch as well as the most interesting local established artists.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Henry Ostang-- Oakland's graffiti documentarist--

http://www.henryostang.com/-  Now offering photography tours of Oakland and SF street art. 

       Henry Ostang didn't discover his passion for photography until the middle of his life.  He was doing a book assignment for a Wisconsin based author who wanted to know what life was like in Oakland and SF so that she could write a book in the gay vampire erotica genre.   Since then he's been off and running-  As an O-town native he wants more people to appreciate the art that's constantly in our face.  Graffiti artists take a lot of risk when they put their art out there, but when the do it right the streets are a richer place for it.   Henry documents both the artwork and it's context.  He's expanded his range to include the urban landscape as well as people. 

        About his craft he says: "For me photography is a yin-yang passion comprised of artistic intention and expression a'blended with aggressive cooperation - graffiti is in the main transitory and parked cars, glare of sun, random people, trespassing and the limitations of a given lens are all separate negotiations I engage in with photography to make what I see in mind's eye manifest in digital reality."

         His site has more of his photos as well as info on his upcoming shows.