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