A Very Short Photo Essay on Traveling to San Francisco

An afternoon in Chinatown

I HAVE LOST COUNT of how many times the airplane that I was on touched down in the SFO airport, and how many times did I set foot on a rich California soil. The very first visit to San Francisco happened in 1997, I think, and since then I travelled infinite times for pleasure and work. These days I tend to combine the two, since life is no fun when you are just after one of these activities.

Transamerica Pyramid reflecting in the curves of a parked car

Entrance to the San Francisco China Town

Still, I can’t really say that I know the city well. Just on the last few trips I have explored Chinatown, a place I’ve never set foot before. But some parts are just like home — the famous Market street, with it’s jazz-infused underground bars (I’m talking about Local Edition, of course), and the colourful, intriguing personalities of the Market street near Tenderloin.

Famous cinema-esque California street with Bay Bridge at the end

Some other streets are famous for it’s cinema-esque look, like the California street, rising and falling like a giant concrete wave, carrying cablecar like the real wave would carry a ship lost at sea (good news for the historic trolley riders, that it’s set tight in it’s tracks).

Crowds of Chinatown (all photos here are shot on DxO One camera)

Just some yellow stripes

It’s a city where finding subject matter to document is easy, it just appears in front of your eyes. It’s even easier that one doesn’t really have to think about the photo weapon of choice — the trusty 35mm lens (similar to what you have on iPhone), is just perfect to capture world as is, only if slightly larger.

I always dream up imaginary history when I see Transamerica Pyramid from a Chinatown

I find myself going after the same subjects — Chinatown and it’s people, rolling waves of streets, Transamerica Pyramid, a lovely retro cable car that probably has been a tourist attraction longer than it’s been an actual viable transit option.

Sunday brought a lot of people to a festival in Chinatown

It’s a city filled with sun, and Californian warm glow is something that transforms not just photography, it’s transcends way beyond that and changes people and the vibe of everything it touches.

A woman waiting for the bus in Chinatown

So long, San Francisco, I enjoy being in you, and enjoy having amazing people by my side to wander through the streets, sing songs, listen to the jazz and catch the looks on passing by strangers.

Chinatown as seen from a roof top of a nearby building

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