San Francisco is a relatively new city, but it has an interesting mix of culture, history and traditions. Liberal, bohemian, multi-ethnic and outrageously expensive - its diversity makes it difficult to define. Yet it is fun to describe! Quirky, fun, grungy, eclectic, and crazy are just a few adjectives I would use, depending on my mood and where I am.
Some people who live here think that San Francisco has lost its luster. They complain about the high cost of living, the endless construction, the political infighting, the crime, the homeless and the garbage. Indeed, the last few years with the Trump presidency, the opioid epidemic, and now the COVID pandemic, have all taken a toll.
I moved here on Halloween in 1987 and never left. I had always been fascinated with San Francisco, and when I started living here I quickly fell in love with this strange and beautiful place. I love its rich and colorful history, its unique mix of architecture, its hills and parks, and the way the light shines on the streets and the bay. I love the variety of food, and most important, the mix of people who are my neighbors and colleagues and friends. Almost every day I discover something new. It is such a pleasure to photograph!
These beautiful TEACH ONE - EACH ONE murals are by artist Eli Lippert. This project is sponsored by the Precita Eyes Muralists Association, a community-based non-profit muralist and arts education group located in the Mission District.
These murals are painted on the boarded up Spring Valley Water Company building at 425 Mason Street. The seven story office building was constructed in 1922 by the famous San Francisco architect Willis Polk. The building’s facade features a sculptural relief of dripping water that was designed by Emily Michals, a Mission High school art teacher who also worked in the office with Willis Polk.
The Spring Valley Water Company held a private monopoly over San Francisco’s water supply from the mid 1860's to 1930. Run by land barons, its history was fraught with corruption, land speculation, favoritism towards the elite, and widespread ill will from the general populace. Efforts to de-privatize the city’s water supply began under the progressive mayoral administration of James Phelan. Upon the sale of Spring Valley Water to the City and County of San Francisco in 1930, the building served as the headquarters of the San Francisco Water department until 2003 when it was declared as a surplus property and placed onto the market.
Sadly, it has remained unoccupied and its facade and other historic details continue to deteriorate.
These shadows are courtesy of a fire escape at 385 10th Street.
This amazing “see love” street art is outside The Market - a high end supermarket in the Twitter building on Mid-Market Street.
Protect the Sacred is the title of this mural by artist Cristian Muñoz. It is outside the Walgreens at 9th and Market Streets.
Anti-Trump sentiment in San Francisco extremely strong. This was posted at Fleet Wood, a boutique and gallery on Larkin Street.
This is the entryway to the Bellaire Tower, an iconic Art Deco building at 1101 Green Street on Russian Hill. Walking past one evening, I could not resist the allure of the warm light and shadows.
Many bars, such as PCH a.k.a. Pacific Cocktail Haven, have installed outdoor parklets so they can resume operation. They must also sell food, or partner with nearby restaurants so that food as well as alcohol is served.
This small shop of curios on Nob Hill featured a sign that really resonates with me.
Lights shine bright at San Francisco’s new Ferry Terminal.
This time of year, stark shadows contrast with a reflection of another skyscraper on 525 Market Street.
425 Market Street appears quite different depending on the angle you are looking at it.
The Transamerica Pyramid makes a peek appearance on Shepard Place, a small alley on Nob Hill.
I found this poetry posted outside a closed club in the South of Market neighborhood. I absolutely love it and admire the organic distribution method of this public poetry.
International flags fly outside the Fairmont Hotel.
Festive Halloween decor outside a residence on Mason Street.
Barrio is a neighborhood beer bar and Latin kitchen in North Beach. Thier parklet features art by Chris Peralta.
This is the empty shell of Trattoria Pinocchio, a Sicilian restaurant in North Beach closed due to the pandemic. This restaurant’s closing has an odd story associated with it.
On July 28, the owner posted a series of signs in the restaurant’s window causing controversy throughout the neighborhood. The signs, written in English and Italian, questioned the gender of the former First Lady Michelle Obama and call San Francisco a “cesspool.” The owner told reporters he was going to leave the city because its leaders are failing him. The president of the North Beach Business Association said the signs were “clearly racist and bigoted” and the owner of the restaurant is known to be “intolerant.”
Caffe Trieste is a historic cafe located at the corner of Vallejo Street and Grant Avenue. Established in 1956 by “Papa Gianni” Giotta, it was the first espresso coffee house on the West Coast. It has served as set for feature films and television shows, and its walls are adorned with pictures famous celebrities who have visited the cafe. This is a photo of Papa Gianni and Mamma Ida is in a window of the coffee roasting part of the building.
This is Fresno Street in North Beach. The small streets and alleyways in North Beach have unique character unlike anywhere else in San Francisco.
This is hitching post. Although you don’t see horses on the Streets of San Francisco anymore, hitching posts like this on can still be seen in some side streets and alleyways like this one in North Beach.
This is the underside of a pedestrian skybridge that connects the San Francisco Financial District Hilton to Portsmouth Square in Chinatown. The walkway is now also a public park. What’s really cool that it is a pedestrian walkway that literally connects two neighborhoods.
Hollywood moving making has resumed in San Francisco! For several weeks in October, a new Marvel film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, was filmed on Nob Hill. They were shooting a chase scene with a Muni bus on our street.
A bridal shop at the corner of Sutter Street and Grant Avenue had extremely elaborate flower displays on the sidewalk.
Trees on the sidewalk in front of the Bank of America building are wrapped in lights. They reflect off the columns of the building.
These giant 555 numbers outside the entrance to 555 California Street, formally known as the Bank of America Center. Completed in 1969, it was the tallest building West of the Mississippi until the Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972. It was the corporate headquarters to Bank of America until they merged with NationsBank in 1998 and moved to North Carolina. The skyscraper has thousands of bay windows, common in San Francisco residential real estate. My wife used to work for McKinsey & Company on the 48th floor, and the offices and views were spectacular.
Oddly, in 2007, the building was acquired by Vornado Realty Trust with a 30 percent limited partnership interest owned by Donald Trump. Trump's stake in 555 California Street is one of his largest holdings as of 2020.
Critical Mass is a monthly political-protest bicycle ride event that originated in San Francisco in 1992. On the last Friday of every month, people ride together to make it safe for each other to ride bicycles through the streets. It is like a traffic jam on bikes with much celebration. They have no leadership or membership and are not sponsored. During its heyday, thousands of bicyclists would gather and take over the streets of San Francisco creating legendary gridlock and traffic chaos. Today, the movement is a shadow of its former self. Here, cyclists gathered at the foot of Market street the day before Halloween, many in costumes.
Ross Louis Alley in Chinatown at night.
Grace Cathedral sporting red, white and blue lighting for the upcoming election.
This year, Halloween came with a full moon. Not just a full moon, but a blue moon as well. It was first full moon on Halloween since 1944. I just had to go photograph it. I wanted to venture down the Embarcadero and shoot the moon rising behind the Bay Bridge, but I got a late start because I was carving jack-o’-lanterns. So I walked up to my favorite viewpoint on Russian Hill and nabbed this shot looking over North Beach.
I was walking up to Russian Hill to shoot the full moon, and on my way I diverted to California and Mason Streets, to see if that could be a good spot to shoot the moonrise. There was no moon shining over California Street at that time, but I did notice a photographer with a bunch of gear hanging out there. Later, on my way home, I went back to see if the view had improved. Indeed, the moon was perfectly placed over the Bay Bridge, the Financial District and California Street. By that time, a gang of no fewer that half a dozen photographers had gathered in the middle of the street shooting the scene with everything from cell phones to DSL cameras tripods. It was quite the scene!
These are the carved pumpkins that delayed my departure to shoot the moonrise. Totally worth it. Life is a balancing act. Silly traditions are important. So is roasting pumpkin seeds. I am so happy to be living here in San Francisco and to have celebrated another Halloween here with my little family.