Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and co-founder of Facebook, is the youngest billionaire on the planet. At 26 years of age he has a net wealth of US$4 billion thanks in part to his 24% shares of Facebook, the social networking site he launched from his Harvard dorm room on February 4, 2004. He says the idea for Facebook came from his days when he was at Phillips Exeter Academy which publishes annually a student directory with head shots of all the students, faculty and staff and was known simply as “The Facebook”. Zuckerberg’s version of Facebook started as a “Harvard-thing,” he says. He decided it would be cool to spread his site to other ivy league schools and enlisted the help of roommate Dustin Moskovitz to get the it rolled out. They first signed up colleges such as Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, New York University, and Yale and from there it took off. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook – Images by David Paul Morris
Zuckerberg moved to Palo Alto, California, with Moskovitz and some friends where they converted a small house into their first office. According to the young billionaire, he and his friends always intended to return to Harvard but eventually decided to remain in California. As of this writing has not returned to college as a student, and who can blame him. His site just passed the 500 million user mark, up from 400 million in just 5 months and is growing rapidly especially in places outside of the North America. In fact it is one of the fastest growing companies in history. Facebook has become such an integrated part of everyone’s life and it’s not just for teenagers but is also being used more and more by hundreds of millions of adults all over the world. Along with the networking ability it offers it has also been noted that Facebook was instrumental in political protests in countries like Columbia, Thailand and Iran. I photographed him last night for Bloomberg at a forum where he was grilled on the stage from author David Kilpatrick who’s recently published book, The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting The World, which is a look at the inner workings and start-up of Facebook and Guy Raz, weekend host of the National Public Radio show All Things Considered. A lot was said about where the internet started, where it is now and where it is going in the future. It seems to me that we have only scratched the surface of where we are all going with this amazing technology. Check out more images.
Lately I have been having fun with my iPhone 3Gs. No, I don’t have the iPhone 4…yet….but hope to get it sometime soon. I have heard that Verizon might start carrying the iPhone 4 after the first of the year. If that is the case I will wait until then to check out my options. I love the device for what it is, the interface with the apps is fantastic and very user friendly, but for a phone it has little to be desired as I am sure many out there will attest. I think that AT&T simply does not have the bandwidth to accommodate all the users. Hopefully that will change once brand red gets access to the phone. Anyway the reason for this blog today is to post a few photos from my iPhone that I have been taking lately. I am really having a good time using this as a creative outlet and feel remarkably free to be able to produce the images I see in my head with this phone. Granted it is a very limited pixel capturing device but if you have decent light and can compose a photo you get some good results. Have a look at these 20 images produced using the “ShakeIt Photo” application in this slide show and tell me what you think. iPhone Photos – Images by David Paul Morris
Recently I had the gastronomic pleasure of accompanying my good buddy Getty staff photographer Justin Sullivan to review a burger joint for his new-ish blog simply called, The Hamblogger. This is a great resource for anyone who loves to savour burgers at their best. Featuring about 3 posts a week, Justin and his partner Josh Weisberg, put out a USDA quality blog with great reviews of some out-of-the-way and unexpected places you might not expect to find tasty delights of meat between buns in your neighborhood.
We went to the Broken Record, a bar in front eatery in back sort of place located close to the Cow Palace at 1166 Geneva Street, San Francisco, California 94112. In the back room behind the bar is a kitchen and dining area with out only a couple of items on the chalk written menu. The reason for our visit was simply known as the Beef and Bacon burger.
When I arrived and Justin was already there at the bar. We ordered a couple of beers, had a chat for a while and then at 6pm when the kitchen opened Justin left to get to work. After drinking one of the many beers on tap and making a few pictures in the bar area I went back to check on Justin and how his shoot was going. When I got back to the kitchen area he was almost done documenting the cooking process. Now the only thing left to do was shoot the burger and then dispose of it in the usual way that you would dispose of a burger. We split the burger in half and I have to say it was pretty darn good.
A few weeks later we went to another location that he reviewed in his blog called Don Pistos in north beach, San Francisco. We had the hamburguesa which was by far the best burger I have ever tasted. Read Justins blog for the details. As he says, “it was awesome”!
Check out the Hamblogger when you get a chance and thanks for looking! A line of pool cues sit on the wall waiting for the game at the Broken Record in San Francisco.Inside the bar area of the Broken Record the game goes on.A wide range of whiskey is lined up on the wall.Justin waits for the decisive moment as the bacon burger is being prepared.Justin has a look at the progress of his report.Justin gets to work shooting and savouring the Bacon Burger at the Broken Record.The final test…Yum!
I was recently in Beijing for about 36 hours on the back end of a trip to Seoul and Hong Kong. It came about unexpectedly as the possibility of a new opportunity lurks on the horizon. More on that later. The main thing about this post is to mention how much I think I really like Beijing now. I know you can’t experience much in such a short amount of time…but I know Beijing. I have been going up to Beijing since I moved to Hong Kong in 93 and I was never a big fan. I always preferred the electric buzz of Shanghai and cool, fresh calmness of Kunming over the dry, dusty and hazy capitol. But in these 36 hours, after a very interesting meeting of about 6 hours with some very professional journalists and hanging out with my good friend Ron I have warmed up to the place. I could feel a real energy in the air. I am not sure if it was left over from the ’08 Olympics but it seems that Beijing has come into its own as a destination city that people would enjoy coming to. The people smiled a lot and walked with sense of pride in their step. Of course there was the cyclo driver who tried to double the price once we got our destination, but that’s normal. With the ultra extreme positive persuasive talk from Peter and the very dark and devilish comments from Fred I was left to figure it out for myself. The air is the only thing that I could “see” that could be a problem with living there. It’s thick and hazy and obviously not very healthy to breathe. My throat always felt dry and I went through plenty of water. But is this enough to keep someone from moving there? To look past opportunities? I don’t know. Perhaps after a few months of being immersed in the culture and thrown out on the streets one would know the answer. More to come.A stroll down Ritan Lu. I was amazed at the tree lined streets throughout the city. A man has a power nap in Ritan Park.Serving it up in Ritan Park.Ron takes a photo of some guy having a snooze in Ritan Park.Still sleeping after all these years.Climbing the wall in Ritan Park.All in a days work! He was happy to have his picture taken.He was not!The man that got me there.
Greetings, I am back in San Francisco after a good trip to Asia. Working in Hong Kong and China is great but also it is nice to come home to San Francisco. What a great city we live in. Yesterday I was editing photos from a recent assignment when there was a break in the storm passing through. As I looked out my window I was treated to a rare rainbow over the Golden Gate Bridge. I ran and grabbed my camera and managed to squeeze off a few frames before the colors in the sky vanished. Thanks for looking!A rainbow hangs over the Golden Gate Bridge during a break in a recent storm. A rainbow hangs over the Golden Gate Bridge during a break in a recent storm.
Hong Kong has just gone through one of the dirtiest air days in history. With the Air Pollution Index hitting 500 in certain areas of Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s government told residents to reduce outdoor activities and schools scrapped sports classes as the city’s air pollution index hit record highs. It’s has been an ongoing problem for years in Hong Kong. It doesn’t help being at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta which funnels all the toxic industrial air pollution from southern China. Here are a few images I shot for Bloomberg News. Thanks for looking!Two men talk on a walkway in Central as the pollution looms overhead and the Wanchai skyline in the background in Hong Kong, China.A woman covers her face from the pollution as she walks across Queens Road Central in Central, Hong Kong, China.A man watches over a major construction zone in Central with the Wanchai skyline in the background as the pollution looms overhead Hong Kong island.As the pollution hangs over Hong Kong island, Fred Mostowy, on vacation from Canada takes photos of the Hong Kong skyline in Central, Hong Kong, China.
On Wednesday night I participated in the 2010 ArtWalk in Hong Kong. ArtWalk is a wonderful charity event that has raised over HK$4 million all for charity since it’s beginning in 2001 and supports the annual graduation exhibitions of Hong Kong fine art students. Donations are raised from the sale of the ArtWalk tickets which run HK$430 (about US$55), and this year the benefiting charity is the Society for Community Organization (SoCo). The evening is simple as you can start at any one of the 60+ galleries in Central, Sheung Wan, Wanchai and Causeway Bay and at your leisure you can browse through the different galleries eating and drinking donated food and drinks as you enjoy the wide range of art from pop-art and realism to abstract and 3D installations. While I didn’t get to all the galleries I did visit quite a few and enjoyed the evening. One of the galleries we visited is owned and operated by my friend Lisa Botos who used to be my editor at Time Magazine here in Hong Kong. She has since left the magazine, moved to Singapore but has opened this gallery called Ooi Botos Gallery which is Hong Kong’s leading avant-garde gallery specializing in photography, digital media, video and installation. When we visited the gallery they were featuring the work of Chen Man an incredibly talented Chinese photographer who’s work is simply stunning. Another gallery we visited that I was impressed with with the work was Connoisseur Art Gallery that featured the work of Chinese artists Yan Ya Ya and Zhang Da Zhong both extremely talented Chinese contemporary portrait artists. Below are just a few images from the night. Hope you enjoy!The work of Chen Man is on display at Ooi Botos Gallery in Wanchai.This stunning portrait by Yan Ya Ya can be seen at the Connoisseur Art Gallery on Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong.Another stunning portrait by artist Zhang Da Zhong at Connoisseur Art Gallery on Hollywood Road in Central.People look over the installation at the main office of Society for Community Organization, the benefactor of this years ArtWalk.
Greetings, I am back in Hong Kong. It’s been a long time but now that I am healed with my shoulder injury it’s good to be back home. I have been wondering around a bit on the streets in between jobs for Bloomberg News and a few other corporate gigs. I am loving being back here as always and feel very much at home. Almost every day I walk past 90 year old Mr. Mak a newspaper and magazine vendor along Sing Woo Road in Happy Valley. (Love that name). His business, which he has had for over 40 years, seems to be doing well unlike others around the world. Back in San Francisco my buddy Justin Sullivan with Getty Images photographed a guy who had to close his newspaper kiosk after being in business for over 30 years. Sad state of the times for sure. It seems to me that Hong Kong is booming while the rest of the world suffers through the ongoing economic crisis. I am not sure if it is because of good management on the part of the Hong Kong government or if Hong Kong is just insulated to this sort of thing. What ever they are doing it seems to be working. In any event it’s great to see that things are on track here in the SAR. (Special Administrative Region) Here are a few photos of my newspaper vendor, Mr Mak. A nice old man with a twinkle in his eye. Thanks for looking! Mr Mak, 90 waits for customers at his newspaper and small items stand along Sing Woo Road in Happy Valley.Mr. Mak, 90 unties a knot in a string as he waits for customers.Newspaper vendor, Mr Mak, 90, gives back change at his Happy Valley newspaper stand on Sing Woo Road.Mr. Mak, 90, folds newspapers at his Happy Valley newspaper stand which he has operated for over 40 years.Mr. Mak, a 90 year old newspaper vendor in Happy Valley waits for his next customer at his kiosk stand that he has operated for over 40 years.
Yesterday I was hired by the SF Chronicle to go out and look for various beach closures because of a tsunami alert that was placed in effect. The advisory, which is not as serious as a warning, was issued after a magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile. Although there wasn’t any apparent danger, authorities in San Francisco and other counties in the bay area urged people to stay off the beaches. Of course when this warning goes up many people seem to ignore the potential dangers and go out to catch a glimpse of the incoming killer waves. As predicted by many the waves only grew to about 4 feet in height but brought along with it a deep recession in the tide which brought out the crabbers. I was out at Pacifica and Half Moon Bay where I worked much of the afternoon. Here’s a sample of the images I got. Thanks for checking in and taking the time to look!
People try their luck catching clams as the tide washes out at Pillar Point during a tsunami warning that was a result of an 8.8 earthquake in Chile February 27, 2010 in Half Moon Bay, Calif.
A man gets sprayed as the waves crash into the jetty at Pillar Point during a tsunami warning that was a result of an 8.8 earthquake in Chile February 27, 2010 in Half Moon Bay, Calif.
3 months. I haven’t worked or shot any photos to speak of for the last 3 months. Not that it was my choice or I didn’t get any calls for work. Back in November, on the 21st to be exact, I fractured my right humerus bone (upper arm) in four places on the top where it joins with the shoulder joint. I am not sure why they call that bone the humerus bone cause there is nothing humorous when you break or fracture it. While it was a painful experience and something I don’t recommend for anyone, as it was my right arm, the fracture and the process of healing was the experience that took me away from photography. They don’t make left handed cameras.
I had to immobilize my arm for a month using a belt like device with velcro straps and braces that went around my bicep and another around my wrist that held my arm against my body bent at the elbow at 90 degrees. Not advised for comfortable sleeping. After the first month was over I happily discarded my immobilizer and put my arm in a sling for month two and for month three I was out of the sling but limited to lifting my arm 45 degrees with no more then 5 pounds of weight.
I spent most of my time learning new programs on Lynda.com and getting some of my archive scanned and organized. Now I am in the process of physical therapy. Because of the lack of movement with my arm and shoulder and the scare tissue that has developed due to the bleeding from the bone I am very stiff and weak. The physical therapist tells me that these next few months are the most critical to get my arm back to where it was before, so I have a lot of work to do. Stretching and more stretching with weight lifting is on the agenda and high priority.
Now I can go back to work and thanks to my editors at the Chronicle, Getty and my other clients for their patience and calling me when they do. Below is a photo from an assignment this week at the Chronicle having to deal with the possibility of raising fees for tourists to enjoy some of the places we take for granted here in San Francisco. Coit Tower is on the list and just down the street from my apartment. Thanks for looking and check back again soon!
Tourists enjoy the view from atop Coit Tower on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California.
