I am Sean Henry of Oakland...
and have passion for portraying people as they desire and aspire with an emphasis upon relationship with street art aka graffiti aka aerosol: I photograph people for portraits, while making music, at events and interacting with graffiti murals...photo shoots which incorporate peeps flowing by, discards and whatever randomness presents itself. You will receive a copy of every photo at the end of a shoot so long as you bring a flash drive along (I suggest 4-gig or more) ~ no delays or holding back of "prized" pieces happens with me.
I grew up in Oakland and the San Francisco East Bay Area and art was and is everywhere in public view and domain. Oakland is known for many things including having a vibrant arts and music scene. What I would like to see is aerosol graffiti be more widely recognized and embraced as a distinctly urban contemporary medium. Now, graffiti is viewed as urban "blight" and "abated", but in reality it is much more a case of beautification, legitimate freedom of expression, memorialization of the Remembered Dead, portrayals of historic moments and exhibition of raw, mostly self-taught talent. If you want a photo I have taken to be credited to the responsible artist email me, por favor. Artists who have questions about commercial issues are also welcome to contact me.
Special thanks to SM Johnson's "DeVante" nascent trilogy: http://devante.livejournal.com/
In assisting the author with information about the SF Bay Area I found photography, graffiti and a cousin or two of the fang-face crowd. wuf.
Everything Oakland! www.OaklandLocal.com
Oakland/East Bay Graffiti: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phunk/sets/175442/
The International Center of Photography: http://www.icp.org/
Long Island, NYC aerosol: http://5ptz.com/graff/about/
John Sheridan provides excellent printing services at a very reasonable cost: http://johnsheridanart.com/digital_printing1.htm
Regeneration Church: http://www.regenerationweb.com/
Community farming at its best! http://funktownfarm.wordpress.com/
East Oakland Graffiti Video: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=52203415
57th Street Gallery on Telegraph in Oakland: www.57thStreetGallery.com
Community Rejuvenation Project transforms blighted areas of the community through murals: http://communityrejuvenation.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-flix.html
Lake Merritt, Oakland: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/California/Oakland-754597/Things_To_Do-Oakland-Lake_Merritt-BR-1.html