"You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it."
~Author Unknown
There are two really famous sayings about photographs that have been running around in my head since I recently sat for a photo shoot with San Francisco photographer, Julie Michelle.
The first is the old adage about a picture being worth a thousand words.
The second is a saying about a camera stealing the soul.
It's often attributed to various Native American tribes and I honestly have no idea where it came from. I get it, though, a good photograph freezes a moment, a feeling, a single thought in time forever to be observed by anyone who views it. It's slightly invasive; but, oh-so-intriguing.
Julie Michelle excels at capturing that single thought, that feeling, that moment in a way that not only honors her innate talent as a photographer, but that also honors her subject matter. In viewing her photographs it is very clear that she loves people, loves to hear their stories and loves to pull from within that beauty and tangential energy that every person possesses, yet perhaps doesn't always show the world at large.
Normally this column is in an interview format; but, as Julie Michelle is a photographer I figured it might be more poignant to let her work speak for itself.
I first met Julie after I was featured as Broke-Ass of the Week on Stuart Schuffman's website. Julie contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in participating in her I Live Here: SF project which chronicles people (and the occasional random pet) that live in San Francisco. Julie works with her subjects in a collaboration to tell their individual stories through provoking, intelligent and emotion filled photographs and the written word (submitted by the subjects.) Sadly, as I live in Berkeley, I didn't qualify for the project.
In the time that she's been working on I Live Here: SF she's captured the stories of such San Francisco luminaries as Britteny Gilbert (CBS5's Eye On Blogs,) Beth Spotswood (SF Gate columnist,) Broke-Ass Stuart (you should know why he's cool from my Men We Love profile of him,) the co-founders and editors of the Muni Diaries and lots of other freelance writers, San Francisco bloggers, dancers, performers and artists.
The most provoking photos in the project (which according to Julie "serves as the platform for a larger project, photographing the people of San Francisco,") are the ones of people whose stories we may not have heard prior.
The picture of Michael who passed her by on the street one day and agreed to stop for a picture and that of Colleen who talks about the St. Anthony's Foundation tell the story of gentrification in San Francisco and how it is forcing San Francisco natives out of neighborhoods in favor of hipster coffee shops and trendy boutiques. The stories of the Tenderloin and Fillmore district.
These are stories which need to be told about San Francisco right now: how affordable housing and whole communities are being destroyed because 20-somethings invade for the cheap rent and "gritty urban flavor" and in ten years when they are 30-somethings they decide it is "too urban" and force gentrification and redevelopment issues. One by one neighborhoods in San Francisco are losing the very essences which made them part of the cultural geography of the city.
The photos of Cari and Jacobo tell two different stories of artistic expression in the Mission district. That of the small, independent theater - one of many which dot the San Francisco theater scene - producing works that span from political to circus-art inspired that are the impetus for so many young artists to move to San Francisco (it was for me, at least). And, that of street music which is so prevalent everywhere you go in the Mission.
Having lived there I can say that the streets are a cacophony of noise - some beautiful, some ugly - but, all very real and depicting of what life in the Mission is like. That photo just sings of San Francisco and reminds me of being serenaded by a Marachi band as my boyfriend of the time (who I moved with to San Francisco in 2004) and I had a very quiet argument over burritos on 16th street days before our relationship of many years ended.
These are memories and moments about the city I have loved and lived in for five years (and, am scheming to get back to every day I'm in the East Bay) that you cannot find elsewhere and for that, Julie Michelle's project has insane personal value to me and most likely will have the same effect on anyone who has loved the city by the Bay in this way.
When I asked her about her intent for the project and if one day she would like to make it into a book she told me,
"...the blog is a work in progress. That is how I feel about it, that it is always unfolding and there is always another surprise waiting to happen.
"What I want is just to shoot for this blog and collect stories for a year or more," she said, "And, then maybe it will be rich enough to have people look at it and evaluate it. Maybe then I'd make it into a book. Now it's just a work in progress..."
Whatever it is, it is indisputable that Julie Michelle belongs on my list of women to watch. And, watching her explore her craft couldn't be more pleasurable.
If you are interested in sitting for Julie's project or having photographs done by her for another reason (which I highly recommend) you can reach her via her website: Femme Fotographie
[All images courtesy of Julie Michelle]