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July has been a busy month for me. When I wasn’t on the road, I was out and about here in Austin with my Mamiya 7ii shooting portraits and other randomness. This set is heavily focused on the 4th of July party at Yellow Jacket Social Club but also includes a few bike portraits. I hope you enjoy!
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii
Kodak Portra 400
When I travel, I always have a camera on me and lately, it’s been a toss up between the Mamiya and the Leica. The only time I really carry my digital camera with me is if I am going to shoot a bike, or a shop, but in general, all my travel photos have been film. Which creates an overflow of randomness from each city I visit. Most of which don’t merit a post just by themselves. See some narrated photos of faces and places in the Gallery! Hey, if I don’t post them, they’ll sit on my hoard drive…
On my last night in SF, I hopped up to the top of the biggest hill I could find and waited for the fog to envelop Sutro as the sun was setting like it so often does. I shot a few 35mm and medium format photos, but these were my favorite. I really do love that city.
See more below!
As you can imagine, Austin has a fairly small cycling scene when compared to other major US-cities. Every time you go for a pedal, you’ll bump into someone you know. A few weeks back, I ran into Jacob on the pedestrian bridge and took some photos of him for the Austin Rapha Survey. His Bridgestone is one of the most “well used” bikes in my circle of friends.
Check out two more below!
My friends in San Francisco are the best. They’re all hustlers in their own perspective professions and regardless what people say about the “Cali” lifestyle, they’re always on the grind. When he’s not running traveling the world racing, he’s running his company, TCB Courier with a handful of other like-minded individuals. Call him many things: “freshly shaven”, entrepreneur, #fixiefamous, whatever, this dude is living the dream.
I stayed with Chas for over a week the last time I was visiting and out of everything I shot on my trip, these three photos of him riding that green Cinelli Mash prototype track frame are some of my favorites. All shot from a moving bicycle…
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
See two more below!
Happy Merckx Mondays! This Recent Roll post is brought to you by David Flores and Division 1, a new shop on the east side of Austin, Texas. The guys at D1 flew Mr. Flores out to paint this massive Eddy Merckx mural on the eastern façade of their new building. It’s impressive!
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Fuji Pro400H
I’ve started to post some of the film photos from China that didn’t make it to the Ends book or photo show up on the Norse Photo. Most of which are riding shots, something I love taking but for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the Ends.
Mission Workshop still has a few copies of the books left and we’re working out international shipping rates as well… More on that this week.
Tools of the trade:
Shot from a moving bicycle
Mamiya 7ii / 65mm
Kodak Portra 400 / high res scan
One of the best FYXO jerseys is now available. Introducing the Carrefour.
“French for crossroads / intersection. This design is a collision between FYXO colours and the Mapei cubes synonymous with Paris-Roubaix thanks to their doping dominance in the 90s.
Melburn’s cobbled back alleys are thousands of miles from the stone farm roads of Northern France, but at speed and with the ringing of cowbells, the bumpy experience is the same.
If you are ever at the crossroads, always go North. Hell awaits you.”
Pick one up here!
While I was in California last month, I worked on a few pieces for the Rapha blog, loosely-related to the Amgen Tour of California, with emphasis on loosely. You’re not going to see any pain face pros, just Regular Riders who we met along our trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco. There’s more on the way, but here’s the first edition of Cali is Not California™!
I’m not the best raconteur but Jeremy Dunn is and he did an exceptional job at profiling some of the people we surveyed, so do yourself a favor and check it out at the Rapha Blog!
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
A few weeks ago, on June 2nd, the Austin cycling community came together to help out a local racer and bike messenger named Luke, who had broken his wrist in a crash while racing. Beat the Clock Cycling Club threw one of the biggest alleycats I’ve been to here in Texas to raise money to cover his medical bills (yay America!). Local businesses like Flat Track Coffee, The Liberty and Cycleast showed their support and people from all over Texas showed up on a sunny Sunday afternoon to RACE…
Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery!
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
Austin, Texas is a superb place to live in the summer months. If you can stand the heat, which many can not. Let me tell you, no matter how hot it is where you live, it’s hotter in Texas, because, well, everything is bigger in Texas. Part of living here is having access to swimming holes and this place in particular has been on my list for some time. It’s close enough to our house and seemed like a perfect day trip for Lauren to take on.
As with anything new and unfamiliar, bicycle camping, touring and even day trips can be a daunting task for people. Lauren’s never really done anything like a bicycle camping trip, so we took it one step at a time. The right mix of mileage, hills and hauling had to come into play.
We left before it was too hot and were home before it was hotter. We made a picnic, got sunburnt and swam. She got to officially christen her Icarus and I got some great photos of it all. Anyone with a spouse or a partner who rides knows the feeling of seeing them happy on a bicycle…
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
I jokingly said the other day to a friend that the hardest thing about my trip to China with Mission Workshop wasn’t actually being in China, it was sorting through all my photos. Over 20 rolls of 220 film, 10 rolls of 35mm were accumulated in the three weeks I found myself in Asia. Imagine having to sort through all that and pull together a concept.
a short preview of the book
This is “The Ends”, a book of photographs that is being released at my photography show at Mission Workshop this Saturday, June 15th. You can Pre-Order the book now and it’ll ship Monday, June 17th. We’ve already got the copies and they look amazing. Each copy was printed in Oakland.
“75 page soft-cover book showcasing John’s photographs from the 1,000km bike tour.
Setting out from Shanghai, John Watson and Mission Workshop began their cycling tour of China’s Yangtze River Delta. Using both film and digital formats, Watson photographed the surroundings and encounters with the local community. Led by their friends from Factory Five, they headed into a frenetic network of massive residential complexes, large industrial parks, and super highways. At first glance, the route seemed straightforward, however, the reality of the 1,000km trip was far more intense than anyone expected.
The following photographs from their trip were taken by John Watson, depicting his impression of what is meant by “the ends justify the means.”
This is The Ends.
Available for sale online and at Mission Workshop San Francisco. Ships Monday 6/17.”
Please spread the word, buy a copy of the book for $35 and roll through the show this Saturday!
Photos by Emiliano Bronado
Everyone has their pick for the Red Hook Crit Brooklyn Navy Yard tonight but Dan Chabanov is always my go-to guy. Why? Because he’s humble, yet confident, motivated and driven. He’s also living the dream of racing bikes in NYC. Check out the latest from Manual For Speed, a profile on Dan Chabanov right here!
I’m still filing through all of my film photos from the 2013 ATOC but wanted to share with you a few showcasing Garrett Chow and his own FEA-inspired Specialized Venge. Without going too much into what an FEA model is, or Finite Element Analysis, I’ll give you a basic rundown. In a 3D software like Solidworks, an FEA charts the areas of high-stress or load. FEA readouts are essential when prototyping a new frame or component. They allow the designer and the engineer to address areas of high stress.
On a bicycle, these areas tend to be in the bottom bracket, seat mast or seat tube extension and the end of the forks. Garrett used the FEA diagram to become a literal paint sceme on his bike. Some areas have clear lines of demarcation, while others are almost faded into each other. It’s a truly incredible paintjob and the whole time we were walking around the San Jose stage of the ATOC, people were literally picking their jaws up off the ground.
I shot a few portrait-style photos with Garrett on his bike and maybe one day I’ll end up shooting it in more depth, but for now, check out a few more below.
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
Chris and his self-made touring bike, in Kyle, Texas during a recent weekend getaway.
It doesn’t matter where you call home, make the best of where you live. Whatever the weather. Whether if it’s pouring rain in Portland, or hot and muggy in Texas, put in some miles to compensate for the excessive drinking!
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
Andrew Low has been working on a prototype track frame unlike any of his other bikes. These frames are simply put: team-edition racing machines. Some details are consistant with his other bikes, while others are not. Marc’s LOW is one of four in existence, being raced by Team Chica Sexy in SF. The geometry is true track, with steep angles, a short wheelbase and an aggressive saddle to bar drop. You can barely see the compact geometry in these photos but the top tube does indeed slope back.
Marc brought this bike out one of the last days I was in SF so I could shoot photos of it and from what I can tell over on the LOW Instagram, these are getting closer to production…
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
Photo by Brian Vernor
Vernor’s old Santa Cruz digs saw many a faces over the years. I crashed there on one occasion and it just felt like home, something not easy for a guy who spends most of his time traveling… In the last few months of living there, he began shooting portraits of all the visitors he had. Check out a few more familiar faces on the Brian Vernor Making Blog.
Over the next few months, I’ll be spending more time on the road than I will in Austin and it all begins today with Los Angeles for the Amgen Tour of California. Last year, I was in LA and SF almost as much as I was in ATX. This summer, it’ll be even more.
Expect nothing but the best on-the-road coverage for the next week or so…
