The story behind the photo...

They say there is always a story behind a photo or that you should never judge a photo without knowing the conditions that the photographer faced to get it.....so here is my story on the night shot of the Grand Canyon Horse Shoe Bend.  

We were due to arrive in Flagstaff around 3pm on Tuesday and we were going to drive on up to the Grand Canyon's "Horse Shoe Bend" soon after. This is a spot I have had on my radar for a while now, however on the way to Flagstaff from Las Vegas we came across the Hoover Dam (stop #1), then on Route 66 we came across an amazing store with old cars/pumps/signs (stop #2), finally at the end of Route 66 where we had to join the freeway again there was a family run diner (stop #3) which meant that we pulled into Flagstaff after the sunset-which was, of course outstanding! 

So next (and only/last) day in Grand Canyon, then a "quick" 2hr 30min drive out of the park and up to the Horse Shoe. Now, it would seem that people in the park weren't keen on talking about the Horse Shoe, we wonder if this has anything to do with it falling outside park grounds and being free...... It is also spectacular! That aside, we were 20mins away when we came across a blocked road, the road we needed and it diverted us onto another, 20mins on that into the middle of no where, with no one around and the GPS lost we came across a gas station only to find the diversion was 45 miles back the way we came and then a further 45 miles on that road to the Horse Shoe, not good. Just an FYI there was no diversion signs at the diversion junction except an old sheet blowing in the wind so not surprised we missed it. It ended up being about 4 hours+ to do a 2 hour 30 min drive.

We park up grab our coats, run up the hill, down the hill, through the sand, past the remaining folks walking back to their cars and arrive on the patterned rocks looking down into that glorious Colorado River. I set my tripod in the rapidly fast fading light, try to focus, try to not fall of an edge I cannot see..... Move location, manual focus, 10 long exposure attempts before we can no longer see anything at all and I'm using the camera LCD screen as a torch..... and that was all I got. 

It's not perfect, it's not how I wanted to shoot this place or see it, but sometimes that's all you get, just half a chance and on the plus side there isn't actually too many night shots of this majestic place and I got a mean and moody looking view of it. 

Kerouac and The Beat Museum Review

Two years ago I met my girlfriend, shortly after that she introduced me to Charles Bukowski. I am somewhat ashamed to say my American literature was, at best "limited", at school we were fed copious amounts of Shakespeare and the likes of Pride and Prejudice until we were all utterly sick of reading, my only escape from that was my love of a good Stephen King novel! The only American "classic" I remember reading in that class and unsurprisingly loving was "To Kill a Mockingbird", of which large preportion of the time was dedicated to watching the film adaptation then discussing it till we were blue in the face. So when I read Bukowski's "Ham on Rye" two years ago it was as if a whole new world had opened up to me.

The recommendations kept coming and I kept reading, the old drunk Bukowski led me to Fante, who in turn led me to Faulkner, who led me to the French writers Camu and Sarte. All of these fantastic writers were all influenced by each other in some capacity (mostly in writing styes and honesty) and along the way I read Kerouac's "On the Road" which meant I was then hooked on the "Beat Generation" and especially Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs which brings us up to San Francisco's The Beat Museum:

My interest in Kerouac only increased more when we went to see the original 120 ft scroll of his "On the Road" book and exhibition around it at the British Library, so 2013 and with us on the road, travelling across country and visiting San Francisco we sought out the Kerouac hot spots.

"The Beat Museum" is located in the North Beach district of San Francisco which is also a moments walk from Telegraph Hill and hosts a large Italian contingent, Jack never actually lived in this district as such or San Francisco apart from crashing on various couches and the odd hotel however arguably North Beach is to the "Beats" as Liverpool is to The Beatles and It is here that you will find the "Beat museum" founded by Jerry Cimino, it is a beautiful bookshop full of the delights of The Beats, posters, early editions, new editions, bathtubs full of bargains and out the back sits the museum itself.

Jerry will sell you a ticket ($8) and send you on your way through the turnstiles, where you will read the history of how the Beat Generation started, the importance of Neal Cassady, or take a load off in the cinema and watch a film about Kerouac and his sad self destruction. The first floor houses a collection of first editions, photo memorabilia, Jacks jacket and segments on other prominent writers such as Burroughs and Ginsberg and his infamous "Howl". It's a delightful museum set up by people who clearly adore this part of literature history, I hope that it long continues and more donations are submitted over time. Back downstairs and the pièce de résistance, a '49 Hudson car, not actually Jacks car for as Jerry says on the website "there is no tangible record of it, it could be in a car collection or rusting away in some junkyard in Mexico". However here is the Hudson that featured in the "On the Road" movie, kindly donated by Walter Salles with dirt and all from the making of. It's a wonderful story of how the Museum was presented with it read it here, or ask Jerry to tell you all about it while he's showing you photos of him at the premiere! Guaranteed he will also end up showing you and selling you early editions you can't resist too, like us as we ended up with a 1958 first edition of Kerouac's "the Subterraneans" and a few other books, and budget allowing, at the end of this trip I have my eye on an first edition of a British "On the Road"....Jerry is a charmer and clearly can spot fans a mile off!

I cannot recommend a trip to the Beat Museum enough, if not just for Jerry, but because you will be stepping in the footsteps of the authors and poets that shaped and changed a generation, created history, wrote their experiences through their eyes and well, who can't fall in love with a museum that's set up like that.

Across the road from the Beat Museum is the City Lights bookshop/publisher, this was founded in 1953 and was a key part in the "Beats" history, it published Ginsberg's "Howl" which caused national controversy and led to a court case about the poem/book and it's depictions of drug use and homosexuality. You can read all about this in The Beat Museum and see early editions or walk the floors of the bookshop in the store itself and is well worth doing so.