In 1983, upon completing my engineering education in the United States, I took a software engineering job in California's Silicon Valley. I immediately got myself a new five-speed Nissan Sentra that preferred going downhill rather than uphill but took me thirty miles on a gallon of petrol. Having gained freedom I had only dreamed of before, I spent my weekends exploring the region with my camera.
My interest in photography gravitated towards street photography and I quickly discovered that nearby San Francisco was a goldmine for that. The reason was simple. There was a different festival in the streets of San Francisco almost every month, organized by the city's ethnic and political groups. Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese and Italians all had their own festivals, colourful and exciting, with parades on the street, music, food and drinks and sparkling