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  #1  
Old Posted Mar 16, 2012, 10:02 PM
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Oakland Revisted

It has been a while since I've done an Oakland thread. My first, from 2008, is still floating around and I did a thread just around Lake Merritt in 2010. But, my photo project last year got me out photographing all over Oakland (among other places) and I thought an Oakland thread would be worth revisiting.

Part 1: Contra Costa County
Part 2: Alameda County

Oakland is arguably one of the most underrated cities in the US. As I've gotten to know it over the past nine years, I have really grown to appreciate the city, faults and all, and defend Oakland to anyone who has their own preconceived notions. Thankfully, several forumers including myself, WesternGulf, and Nineties Flava have done a nice job showcasing all sides to Oakland. This thread isn't meant to be comprehensive as there is much more to Oakland that I've photographed. But, this is really MY Oakland, the parts I experience working, walking, shopping, and socializing.

Oakland - pop 390,724 - incorporated 1852





















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The End
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Tour of California 1: Los Angeles, 2: Hollywood, Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, 3: Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach, 4: San Jose, 5: San Diego, 6: Fresno, 7: Stockton, Modesto, 8: Gold Country, 9: Eureka, Arcata, 10: Monterey, Carmel, 11: Santa Cruz, 12: Sacramento Pt One, 13: Sacramento Pt Two, 14: Roseville & Folsom, 15: Concord & Walnut Creek, 16: Tri-Valley, 17: Berkeley, Emeryville, 18: Fremont, 19: Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, 20: Redwood City, Foster City, San Mateo, 21: Oakland, 22: Benicia, Vallejo, 23: Napa, St. Helena, 24: Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, 25: San Rafael, 26: Larkspur, Mill Valley, 27: Sausalito, Tiburon, 28: Hollister, San Juan Bautista, 29: Long Beach 2008, 30: Venice, 31: Santa Monica, 32: Sacramento Pt 3, 33: Solvang, 34: Alameda, 35: Knights Ferry, 36: California Zephyr, 37: Colfax, 38: Davis, 39: Oakdale, 40: San Francisco Pt 1, San Francisco Pt 2, 41: Chico, Redding, 42: Kings Beach, 43: Merced, 44: Gold Country pt 2, 45: Gold Country pt 3, 46: Sonora, 47: Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun City, 48: Orange, Fullerton, 49: Anaheim, Irvine, 50: Newport Beach, Laguna Beach,51: San Francisco, Pt 3, 52: Lodi, 53: Martinez, 54: Ft Bragg, Mendocino, 55: San Luis Obispo, 56: Sacramento River Pt 1, 57: Sacramento River Pt 2, 58: Lake Merritt/Oakland, 59: Marysville/Yuba City, 60: Woodland, 61: Beverly Hills"62: Los Angeles, 63: Sacramento, 64: Lakeport, 65: South Lake Tahoe, 66: Salinas, Watsonville, 67: Pacific Grove. 68: Winters/Willows, 69: Red Bluff, 70: Redding, 71: Weaverville, 72: Yreka/Weed/Mt Shasta, 73: Mt. Lassen/Susanville, 74: Quincy, 75: Oroville, 76: Avalon, 77: Mariposa/Yosemite, 78:Markleeville, 79: East Bay (Contra Costa Co), 80: East Bay (Alameda Co)
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  #2  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2012, 12:12 AM
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EPIC!

What a great, extensive tour of a really great city.
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  #3  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2012, 2:03 AM
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These two shots:





stood out in an amazing set. You definitely did Oakland justice here.
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  #4  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2012, 2:56 AM
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Well done! I love Oakland.
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  #5  
Old Posted Mar 19, 2012, 8:01 PM
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Thank you for all the comments!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nineties Flava View Post
These two shots:





stood out in an amazing set. You definitely did Oakland justice here.
Indeed, these are a few of my favorite. The clouds were so incredible the day on the first one, I was sitting in my cubicle, I saw them, grabbed my camera, and went out. The second one was on my way into work and I ended up late for a team meeting. Such is the life of a photographer!
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Old Posted Mar 20, 2012, 8:59 AM
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Thank you for this tour of Oakland, stepper77. Growing up, I truly only passed through Oakland going to the City. Yet on a few occasions I would make it down to Jack London Square. As I examine my return to the Bay Area, Alameda County will certainly be a possibility. Least I forget the Chronicle continually posting articles about recent events of crime across the bay in Oakland. Of course nothing egregious ever occurs in SF....
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  #7  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2012, 3:58 AM
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  #8  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2012, 5:06 AM
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Fantastic look at Oakland!!
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  #9  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2012, 3:59 PM
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Many congratulations on your excellent and beautiful photographic rendering of Oakland. Your aesthetically beautiful photos capture the oft-hidden, denied, and unacknowledged beauty––yes, beauty!––of Oakland. Even in those photos capturing the grittier sides of the city, the images attribute to the rough hewn stretches a rarely seen dignity, a surprising tenderness and compassion.

Of the numerous photographers who have captured Oakland on film for this site, you and Nineties Flava are by far my favourite exemplars. Your work in particular comes across as that of an urban Ansel Adams, marrying both a sacred aesthetic and a profane sensuality to wilderness areas, in your case, a wilderness of steel, glass, and asphalt as much as it is of American constructs of race and class (which your work turns on their heads, so to speak).

Nineties Flava's work, by contrast, reminds me of a Karl Hugo Sclmotz –– with the suggested social commentary of a Dr. Kenneth Clarke––capturing the reconstruction, revitalization, and reimagining of Oakland in our minds by depicting the city's myriad complexities and contrasts. Both of your work overturns prejudiced (often racist) myths and notions about Oakland by showing how beautiful the city actually is (and hence, how vibrant and worthy of our respect its citizens really are) and, in Flava's rendering, how complex and nuanced the city's overall culture really is via its neighborhoods that reflect concentrated, culturally vibrant wealth, striving middle-classes, and embattled, embittered impoverishment.

Seriously, Oakland's citizens are all the richer for both of your contributions. And so are we who come to these threads.
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Old Posted Mar 22, 2012, 6:29 PM
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Fantastic compilation of shots from Oakland, stepper77!

There´re many beautiful pictures in this long thread. The most I´ve liked are those taken from that hill with that amazing view of San Francisco´s skyline.

I´ve liked the sky in many of your shots and those pretty houses and neighbourhoods.

Thanks for this great work and for introducing Oakland so good.

Congratulations and greetings from Madrid, Spain!
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Old Posted Mar 22, 2012, 6:39 PM
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Great stuff! Lovin' the last shot.
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  #12  
Old Posted Mar 23, 2012, 6:45 AM
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I've looked at this twice, but for some reason have not responded yet. Oakland looks like a great city, and some of your pictures of Downtown make it appear like it's Seattle, or maybe Portland. I don't think mmany people realize that Oakland has a Downtown or that Oakland has that stock of historic buildings.

I was looking at aerial images and Street View images of the four blocks mentioned on that plaque after reading that the certain area was the original home of the University of California. What building are they referring to as one that dates from that era or is the particularly historic building? I see a bunch of commercial buildings and a couple apartment buildings, but I don't know what would stand out of those structures.
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Old Posted Mar 23, 2012, 9:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigKidD View Post
Thank you for this tour of Oakland, stepper77. Growing up, I truly only passed through Oakland going to the City. Yet on a few occasions I would make it down to Jack London Square. As I examine my return to the Bay Area, Alameda County will certainly be a possibility. Least I forget the Chronicle continually posting articles about recent events of crime across the bay in Oakland. Of course nothing egregious ever occurs in SF....
Until I started working in Oakland, I had the same experience and perception. But, working here has really opened my eyes and so much has changed in those nine years. While it used to start to feel dead after 3-5pm, there have been so many new restaurants, bars, apartments, and condos opening up they have brought much more vitality during after work hours. Of course the city still has its problems and "Occupy" certainly didn't help matters. But, Oakland is truly a largely undiscovered gem by most.

Quote:
Originally Posted by p-vidal naquet's ami View Post
Many congratulations on your excellent and beautiful photographic rendering of Oakland. Your aesthetically beautiful photos capture the oft-hidden, denied, and unacknowledged beauty––yes, beauty!––of Oakland. Even in those photos capturing the grittier sides of the city, the images attribute to the rough hewn stretches a rarely seen dignity, a surprising tenderness and compassion.

Of the numerous photographers who have captured Oakland on film for this site, you and Nineties Flava are by far my favourite exemplars. Your work in particular comes across as that of an urban Ansel Adams, marrying both a sacred aesthetic and a profane sensuality to wilderness areas, in your case, a wilderness of steel, glass, and asphalt as much as it is of American constructs of race and class (which your work turns on their heads, so to speak).

Nineties Flava's work, by contrast, reminds me of a Karl Hugo Sclmotz –– with the suggested social commentary of a Dr. Kenneth Clarke––capturing the reconstruction, revitalization, and reimagining of Oakland in our minds by depicting the city's myriad complexities and contrasts. Both of your work overturns prejudiced (often racist) myths and notions about Oakland by showing how beautiful the city actually is (and hence, how vibrant and worthy of our respect its citizens really are) and, in Flava's rendering, how complex and nuanced the city's overall culture really is via its neighborhoods that reflect concentrated, culturally vibrant wealth, striving middle-classes, and embattled, embittered impoverishment.

Seriously, Oakland's citizens are all the richer for both of your contributions. And so are we who come to these threads.
High praise, indeed, thank you!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny View Post
Fantastic compilation of shots from Oakland, stepper77!

There´re many beautiful pictures in this long thread. The most I´ve liked are those taken from that hill with that amazing view of San Francisco´s skyline.

I´ve liked the sky in many of your shots and those pretty houses and neighbourhoods.

Thanks for this great work and for introducing Oakland so good.

Congratulations and greetings from Madrid, Spain!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WesternGulf View Post
Great stuff! Lovin' the last shot.
One day I saw a billboard that read "Oakland, the best view of San Francisco" and I got kind of defensive about it because I took it as degrading Oakland as if that was all it had to offer. However, the saying is true, many of the hills and vistas in Oakland provide for some incredible views of SF. My last photo, for example, is one of my favorites too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xzmattzx View Post
I've looked at this twice, but for some reason have not responded yet. Oakland looks like a great city, and some of your pictures of Downtown make it appear like it's Seattle, or maybe Portland. I don't think mmany people realize that Oakland has a Downtown or that Oakland has that stock of historic buildings.

I was looking at aerial images and Street View images of the four blocks mentioned on that plaque after reading that the certain area was the original home of the University of California. What building are they referring to as one that dates from that era or is the particularly historic building? I see a bunch of commercial buildings and a couple apartment buildings, but I don't know what would stand out of those structures.
I agree. Oakland is truly rich with historic buildings. Many still in need of restoration.

What was even more interesting to me about discovering that plaque is that I work for UC Office of the President and didn't know this about our history. I just happened upon the plaque walking between our main building on 12th & Franklin and my office in the Kaiser Center on Lakeside & 21st. The plaque itself is on what would be the northwest cover of a parking garage on 13th & Franklin. There are no remaining buildings from the original university as far as I can tell. Here is the history from wikipedia:

In 1849, the state of California ratified its first constitution, which contained the express objective of creating a complete educational system including a state university. Taking advantage of the Morrill Land Grant Act, the California Legislature established an Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in 1866. Although this institution was provided with sufficient funds, it lacked land.

Meanwhile, Congregational minister Henry Durant, an alumnus of Yale, had established the private Contra Costa Academy, on June 20, 1853 in Oakland, California. The initial site was bounded by Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets and Harrison and Franklin Streets in downtown Oakland. In turn, the Trustees of the Contra Costa Academy were granted a charter on April 13, 1855 for a College of California. State Historical Plaque No. 45 marks the site of the College of California at the northeast corner of Thirteenth and Franklin Streets in Oakland. Hoping both to expand and raise funds, the College of California's trustees formed the College Homestead Association and purchased 160 acres (650,000 m²) of land in what is now Berkeley in 1866. But sales of new homesteads fell short.

Governor Frederick Low favored the establishment of a state university based upon the University of Michigan plan, and thus in one sense may be regarded as the founder of the University of California. In 1867, he suggested a merger of the existing College of California with the proposed state university. On October 9, 1867, the College's trustees reluctantly agreed to merge with the state college to their mutual advantage, but under one condition — that there not be simply a "Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College," but "a complete university," within which the College of California would become the College of Letters (now the College of Letters and Science). Accordingly, the Organic Act, establishing the University of California, was signed into law by Governor Henry H. Haight (Low's successor) on March 23, 1868.[5]

The University of California's second president, Daniel Coit Gilman, opened the Berkeley campus in September 1873.
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Old Posted Mar 23, 2012, 11:41 PM
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Just some damn fine photos. A Jersey Citian can certainly relate to Oakland. Both some underrated-ass cities.
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Old Posted Mar 26, 2012, 4:46 AM
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The shot of snow capped Mt Diablo is spectacular.
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