Shades of San Francisco

Shades of San Francisco is a community history photography project of the San Francisco History Center. On Shades photo days, held in different San Francisco neighborhoods, donors are invited to bring in historic photographs of their families, workplaces, and neighborhoods so that these photos can be copied and added to the San Francisco History Center's Photograph Collection.

The goal of the project is to add images of ethnic and cultural diversity, as well as broader representation of city neighborhoods, to the San Francisco History Center archives. Once collected in the archives, these photographs become important primary sources to assist students, scholars, and the general public in telling the story of San Francisco.

The Western Addition, Mission District, Oceanview/Merced/Ingleside, Sunset District and LGBTQI community photo days have already been completed, but the Shades project will continue to other San Francisco neighborhoods and communities in the future.

Please browse images from Shades of San Francisco in the online exhibition Picture This.