Some indict San Francisco as a failure of liberal governance. Others still see it as the city on the hill, a mecca of tolerance, a home for the downtrodden. But everyone seems to regard the city as a symbol of something— except, perhaps, the people who live there.

For them, it’s simply home.

Despite the widely reported “doom” that is taking over the city, there is energy, there is life, and there is hope.

The Reva and David Logan Gallery of Documentary Photography invites you to an opening reception and talk with graduate student photographers: George Alfaro, Emily Brower, Shannon Faulise, Khwaga Ghani, Max Harrison-Caldwell, Jule-Sophie Hermann, Grace Marion, Gisselle Medina, Florence Middleton, Najim Rahim and Samuel Tanner.

Over the course of nearly three months, our team of photographers shot seven neighborhoods: Civic Center, the Tenderloin, Chinatown, Union Square, SoMa, Mission Bay, and North Beach for this year’s Blurb book issue.

Headquarters for investment funds tower above tents and makeshift shelters on the street. The gray-suited financiers of Montgomery Street and fleece-vested tech entrepreneurs of SoMa weave between street vendors, BART commuters, skaters, and the city’s hungry and poor. Upstart shops and decades-old restaurants pepper blocks of vacant storefronts, clinging on as they wait for “downtown revitalization.” It’s where opposites intersect.

Reception 6:00 P.M.-6:50 P.M. | Lecture & Conversation with Student Photographers 7:00 P.M.

RSVP HERE

 

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS

George Alfaro is a Latin American photographer documenting environmental injustices, socioeconomic inequality, and international affairs. He is a recipient of a Jim Marshall Fellowship, the Dorothea Lange Fellowship, and an Eddie Adams Workshop attendee. His work is published in the Washington Post, Oaklandside, KneeDeep Times, and Richmond Confidential.

Emily Brower is an arts and culture journalist currently based in Berkeley, California. Being raised in San Diego, she was exposed to music and art at a young age and has gained an appreciation for writing and storytelling. Receiving her bachelor’s degree in journalism from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo in 2022, she came to find her passion for writing through music journalism. @emily_brower

Shannon Faulise is a Paraguayan-born, Minnesota-raised photojournalist. @shanmakesphotos

Khwaga Ghani is an Afghan journalist working in audio. Khwaga’s focus is on telling the untold and unheard stories of Afghan women.

Max Harrison-Caldwell is a Bay Area journalist working in audio, photo, and print. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and a bunch of skateboarding magazines. @low___impact

Jule-Sophie Hermann is a visual journalist and documentary filmmaker. She was born and raised in Germany and came to the United States in 2014, where she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. @julesophie.hermann

Grace Marion is a journalist, photographer and cinematographer with work experience across the United States. She wrote for the award-winning Since Parkland project under The Trace and Miami Herald, earned awards through her investigative reporting at the Mississippi Free Press,  and was nominated for Marquis Who’s Who in America for 2023. She received her B.A. in broadcast and print journalism at the University of Mississippi.

Gisselle Medina (they/them) is a Latino investigative and multimedia journalist currently based in Berkeley, California. They received their B.A. in English from UC Berkeley in 2022. Gisselle’s focus is to carve slices in the “stories of the moment,” through timely, in-depth reporting that provides context and centers people who are presented multidimensionally. @fierce.writer

Florence Middleton is a documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Oakland, California. Her work focuses on themes of community, women, and culture. Florence is a Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow and received the Dorothea Lange Fellowship honorable mention. @flotakesphotos

Najim Rahim is a journalist from Afghanistan who began reporting for The New York Times in 2015 and was part of the team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has also worked as a war photographer and videographer in Afghanistan, with his work being published by Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, the European Photo Agency, and Xinhua News Agency. He was part of The New York Times team that won the Overseas Press Club’s Hal Boyle Award for coverage of Afghanistan.

Samuel Tanner is a lifelong Bay Area resident. A graduate of California State University Monterey Bay, Samuel’s focus now lies in pursuing a career in both visual and written storytelling. @samtanner94

Ken Light is a documentary photographer focusing on social issues facing America. His work has been published in thirteen books. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Photographers Fellowships and the Dorothea Lange Fellowship.

About the Center for Photography
The Center for Photography at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, founded in 1996, teaches photojournalism and social documentary photography. The Center routinely exhibits world-class photographers in the halls of the Journalism School, and its public events have brought distinguished photojournalists such as Marc Riboud, Susan Meiselas, Sebastião Salgado, Catherine Leroy and Eugene Richards to Berkeley. It has published five books with University of California Press. Its annual magazine “Realeyes,” showcasing the work of emerging student photographers and funded by the Reva and David Foundation, recently marked its 20th anniversary. Its annual self-published book of student work, published by Blurb, was first published in 2008. Copies may be purchased here.