CALIBER

Life always seems more vibrant through the eyes of an artist, unless it's T.S. Eliot, who really needs to chill out because no one wants to see "fear in a handful of dust", and April isn't cruel, it's actually just colder than its publicist would have you believe. Check out SF, prettier than ever, through the lens of CALIBER.

Just-launched CALIBER's a photoblog that's populated by jaw-dropping aerials, street scenes, portraits, and more, shot by four local, semi-pro sharp-shooters out to expose the fleeting moments of beauty -- both jovial and austere -- that the Bay produces every day, which're then briefly editorialized with titles and captions that trend thoughtful and not pretentious, like Charlie Rose, except thoughtful. On the brighter side of things, subjects range from a massive bevy of pigeons hauling ass down a sun-drenched alley past street signs n' fire escapes ("Yes, they're gross and dirty, but if I keep shots like this, I could care less"), to a couple of cops in black n' white, posing in shades with sly smiles, to a couple dudes in schlong outfits going in for an embrace, simply titled "Getting Frisky", even though there's nary a sack of cat food in sight. Equally arresting are the somber shots, like the one of an old lady hunch-backedly shuffling past an obnoxiously massive Gap ad ("I'm now searching for a storefront with window signage of larger-than-life elderly folk to stake out"), or the one of three young girls, peering out a tiny Tenderloin apartment window with solemn eyes that're neither sad nor curious to regard whatever's passing by, probably because it's just Frank Chu.

CALIBER also sports shots from its proprietors' travels, like one of a couple of kids slingin' street food from beneath an umbrella in Costa Rica ("Grill"), and another faded gem from SoCal's Salton Sea of an abandoned RV Park, entitled "Home Sweet Home", although through your eyes, it'd probably just look like a Waste Land.