We call it "the city" and, unlike cities in
great metropolitan swaths, there is no mistaking which city
we're referring to. San Francisco is photogenic in its unique
way. I feel like a tourist when I go there - unlike when I'm in
Berkeley - and I take photos with the abandon of a tourist.
The photos in the gallery were taken during three short BART
trips across the bay, two in 2018 and one in 2019. They're as
representative as any ten or so hours of walking around in a
city could be - in other words, not representative at all, but
rather idiosyncratic and opportune.
Most photos come from the area around and on the rooftop garden
of the Transbay Transit Center, from the Salesforce Tower during
a tower tour, and from "The Castro" the afternoon before the
2019 Gay Pride Parade.
Standing at the window on the 61st floor of the Salesforce Tower
is an experience not unlike looking down on a valley from a high
road turnout. On the other hand, it's completely different. The
valley is typically peaceful with precipitously tiny artifacts -
like single story houses, farm equipment, trees, and people, all
of which you can barely make out. The city below the tower is
clamorous - with sound (which, of course, you cannot hear with
the multiple-paned windows) and with the relief of all the
massive structures in view. You get a perspective, however - not
the usual one - and, in that way, it is like being on the
mountain road.
Eye to eye - or lens to whatever is in front and center - is
another perspective, a more familiar one: people and things up
close. With either perspective, you never know what you've
"captured" - what may seem pedestrian when the camera clicks can
turn into an eye opener at the leisure viewing.
