In the Shop: Street Level Espresso.
written by jeffmoore
on January 2nd, 2009
(0 votes)
You’re wandering the streets of lovely Victoria in British Columbia and you need to satisfy your hunger for analog imagery while quenching your thirst for a perfectly crafted espresso. Good thing for you Ken Gordon has opened the perfect little spot, aptly titled: Street Level Espresso. The walls are adorned with large framed prints from a familiar plastic artillery. With a true eye for taste and a true taste for all things coffee, we knew there was more to the man behind the counter.
Full Name:
Ken Gordon
Location:
Street Level Espresso
714 Fort St. Victoria BC
CANADA
Occupation:
Barista, Performance Artist, Man about town.
Describe the genesis of your Lomo-love:
Way back in ought’2 I was stumbling out of Café Habana on the L.E.S of NYC with a grilled corn on a stick in my hand. I saw the Holga Starter Kit in the window of a boutique across the street. She whispered to me of a dreamlike mutation to my already heightened powers of observation. I had to make her mine. We honeymooned around the city together by day, while I guarded a Christmas tree stand by night. My first Holga and I, have collaborated on a few gallery shows since then, and she hasn’t gotten too upset when I’ve dated other members of her family…
If you could time travel to one time and place in history, when/where would you be?
I have a new answer for this question every twenty minutes.
Tonight, I’d like go to Louisiana in 1903 to see Leadbelly give birth to the genre of music I was raised on. Bawdy women, whiskey and trouble.
What tips do you have for future/budding Lomographers?
Take off your pants. Your subject is much more likely to offer you their vulnerable side when you are in a compromised position.
At what number do you cap your espresso shots for the day?
Sometimes I start wigging out at about 10 or 12… but if I’ve had a good breakfast too much is never enough.
Most rockin band to hail from Victoria?
Since they so often share stages, beds and siblings, I think it’s safe to say BOTH Meatdraw and Hank & Lily.
When they put on a circus side-show they have the widest age demographic dancing their asses off like nobody’s watching.
Name one photographer that you find to be most inspiring:
Easy. Nikki Lee. Her PROJECTS series is the most inspiring thing I’ve seen in years.
Ken Gordon never leaves the house without:
saying goodbye to his cat.
Where is the best place to shoot in Victoria? (Got the picture to prove it?)
Biking around old town is pretty good, but the band room in the back of the Lucky bar is the best.
What’s the future of coffee?
Transparency. People want to know they’re making ethical purchases. They want to know how farmers are being treated and they hope that environmental considerations are being made. Coffee in the early part of the 21st century is being discovered by the consumer the way wine was in the 70’s. The average homemaker knows the difference between a pinot and a cab/sav and has a sense of which one they’d prefer. I’m seeing more and more people outside the industry making observations like “I like a big fruity African in the morning” or “I expected that Indo to have a bigger body”.
What do coffee and cameras have in common?
Extracting espresso and doing darkroom work are both play with semi-predictable chemical reactions. If you put your best possible ingredients together with a measure of chaos and uncertainty, you can hope to be delighted by some percent of the results.
Do you have a spirit animal? If so, tell us what it is:
A house cat.
Every great cup of coffee should accompany:
A glass of sparkling water and a tidbit of information to muse on throughout your day.
Ken’s Advice of the Day:
Don’t stick your d**k in crazy.
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