Germania Street

San Francisco is one of the world’s most photographed and filmed cities.  Because of movies, television or advertising, many people all over the world feel they know what San Francisco looks like — in the same way many people “know” New York, London or Paris.  I myself live two blocks from the “must see” vista of Victorian houses in Alamo Square.  

It is hard for me to avoid the most ubiquitous San Francisco imagery. But how do we locals really see our city?  How should local artists portray San Francisco? You could not fault any artist for wanting to paint the Golden Gate Bridge or other iconic images, but some of us have a different lens.

Here we are still sheltering in place but may still take, safe, socially distanced walks.  I have been sticking close to home.  For example, walking down quiet streets like Germania in the Lower Haight.  The other day the garbage truck had already been through when I snapped a photo of the scattered empty plastic bins — black for trash, blue for recycling and green for compost.  No, not a postcard, but an image that any local would recognize as San Francisco.