Looking into San Fransisco with Fresh Eyes: A Visit Before COVID-19
My first experience in San Fransisco was two weeks before the world came to a closure. I purchased my camera a few days before this trip, and it wasn’t intended for anything specific. I just knew that I enjoyed little moments in citylife, living through it and noticing the novelty that’s so different from my own environment in Southern California. San Fran is an iconic city with its own marks of culture, little treasures in architecture and spontaneous color that could only be marked as its name.
Throughout the neighborhoods, there was a sense of playfulness that came from the differing structures. From homes to small businesses, all of them were pressed side by side in different shapes and sizes. While walking down the streets, they curved up and down, sometimes with a Muni or Bart thrown in the middle of it. The colors played with my eyes, with minor aesthetics- homeowners enjoying a cup of coffee on their balcony or the simple sight of vibrant flowers covering the patio. It gave me so much joy taking a stroll, and I thought to myself, “No wonder why housing is so expensive.”
I live about an hour away from Los Angeles. Being so close, yet so far, I crave the atmosphere of being around so many people of culture. As a writer/photographer, an environment is essential to keeping creativity alive. The vibrancy of a city opens my mind and allows me to feel like part of a like-minded and welcoming community.
I ran into a small market that displayed their fresh fruits and blossoms outside the shop. As my colleagues grabbed snacks and wine to have a picnic in Mission Delores Park, I was enamored by the blossoming sight. The California Citrus ranged from grapefruit to lemons to oranges and more, and if this were my home, I’d be taking a little paper basket back to my fridge. It reminded me of the orange trees that were in bloom back home; they’ve grown ripe fruits every spring ever since I was a little girl. I never thought a hole-in-the-wall type of market would make me feel so heavy-hearted and connected to my environment, both a foreign one and SoCal.
We stayed in the middle of downtown San Fransisco for a journalism conference. A friend and I had the chance to ride Lyft bikes around the city for only a few dollars, trying to ride at the same flow of other bikers, yet, being careful enough to not get trampled by a car or bus. And that’s probably not the best idea for a person who hasn't ridden a bike in years, but I don’t regret a single moment of it.
By the piers, there was an open courtyard of skateboarders bumping music and practicing tricks while a man had a stand selling jewelry across the way.
At the end of the pier, the ocean looked endless. Gazing to the left and right, the city curved to the body of water. The vintage benches were a lovely touch- so many, as if cityfolks come to watch a movie on Saturday nights from the ocean. Yet, the ocean was the movie. Being in such a busy city, I was impressed with the idea that San Fran has the balance of the fast-pace community and the enjoyment of the views on the edge of the vast sea.
I was awe-struck by the pinks, greens, blues, yellows and other eccentric colors of the architeture. Also how the buildings tend to pop out of themselves with many windows and curtains. There’s something about San Fransisco buildings that are unlike many others. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with the photos as I did, I was hoping to simply capture intriguing memories and possibly a good article of the homeless in San Fransisco (which on the other end, it’s infamously known for.) But being the first time I’ve visited, I couldn’t help but to be enveloped in the little moments that makes San Fransisco what it is. Being familiar with a type of city such as Los Angeles, I appreciate the details that make city life so intriguing and vibrant to outsiders from the rise of the sun until the energetic night life.
In Southern California, we have been in self-isolation for about two months. I came back to these photos with a heavy heart; it felt bittersweet since I’m insanely grateful to have experience San Fran for the first time right before Covid-19 struck as so serious. But I also miss the energy of others so much, as many others do.
People run off of each other, no matter how independent an individual may be. At the end of the day, we strive off of other people, and being a part of these thriving cities allow us to feel the energy of others- even with the irritating notion of traffic and a hustle and bustle. The beauty of the painted sidewalks, the vibrant flowers, the urban coffee and bagel community, and the public transportation is never something to overlook- it is what gives us peace inside, as well as the acknowledgement of a difference that is outside of ourselves.
