Since creating the neighborhoods pictures website, I have received a decent volume of email regarding it. While I am happy to know that there is interest in the project, I find it useful to head off common inquiries with this document. Please note that this is a “living article” that can be amended from time to time. The date below represents the last time it was updated.

I have a question or concern about the site, or I've found a mistake. How do I contact you?

My email address is jordanb@hafd.org. Please note that I am often very bad at responding to email (one of my flaws). I apologize in advance if you send me a message never to hear about it again.

If you emailed me about a mistake on the site in the past and it hasn’t been fixed (especially if the mistake was on the old site) please drop me another line. I went through a long period when I was not making any updates and I know I lost a few emails from that time.

Will you host my pictures?

No. This is a common question and I’ve thought about it for some time. I just don’t see an easy way to do it. It takes enough time for me to simply maintain my work on the site, and there is no web interface that I can hand over to other people, so any third‐party material will simply add to my workload.

However, if you have a site from which you’d like to exchange a link, let me know. I’ve been considering making a collection of links to various urbanist resources.

Did you take all of the photographs on the site?

Yes.

Can I use them?

All my photographs are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

You may use them under the terms of that license.

Can I link to your site?

Sure. That’s why it’s here.

Can you include captions that say exactly where the photograph was taken?

I try. I can’t remember exactly where I took many of the photographs, so the exact location will not always be available or accurate. If there’s a mistake in a caption, please email me.

Why haven't you taken pictures of my neighborhood yet?

On the old site, the response to this was “I haven’t gotten there yet,” but as the project is over a year old now, I don’t know if that excuse is still valid. I am slowly expanding the number of neighborhoods on the site, but it will take a long time for me to get them all.

What type of camera do you use?

I have a Canon AE‐1 Program SLR, a Sony DSC‐52 digicam, and an Olympus Stylus Epic film point‐and‐shoot. I scan the film with an Epson Perfection 1660 Photo scanner. My favorite film is FugiPress for color and Kodak TriX for black and white.

Do you digitally edit your photographs?

I crop and color‐balance the photographs using The Gimp.

Don't people mind having their pictures taken (especially on the CTA)?

For the most part, people are pretty ambivalent.

Of course, there are those who do mind. And some say that “street photography,” which is taking candid pictures of strangers in public places without their permission, is unethical. But if it is, then many of my pictures as well as some of the most important and influential photographs ever taken should not exist.