The Corona virus has forced this native Bay Area daughter of the early settlers in San Francisco to move out of state. I was interviewed for the San Francisco Chronicle about leaving, and the photo at the top of this post shows a bit of that. I left Oakland in April, and moved to my…
Category: Personal Essay
San Francisco Retains a Little Magic, a Lot of Changes, and Loads of History
This summer has gone by fast, and I’ve made the most of it in the evenings after work. Wandering by the railroad tracks, up Townsend Street, past the ball park, I’ve walked many different routes. Looking around and exploring, taking the streetcar along the Embarcadero, catching the transbay bus in the newly reopened Transbay Terminal….
Gumps is Closing Forever
It is with a sad heart (one can leave their heart in so many wonderful places in San Francisco) that I received the news that Gumps is closing, as in, they are going out of business. The store has been a Union Square destination shopping spot since the 1890s. I was thrilled to go in…
Three Generations of San Francisco Natives: Dad, Gramps and Myself
K. Demoro Photog is my photographer nom de shoot. I come from Ralph Wilkins, and Harre Wilkins Demoro’s darkroom of history. Grandpa grew up on Russian Hill, and he and Grandma (who grew up in the Mission), raised dad and Aunt Nancy in Oakland and Alameda. These are the guys who raised me to know…
Fire and Smoke
Yesterday I walked out of Walgreens on Market Street and I saw the smoke I was walking into. I’d seen the smoke from the North Bay fires in Napa, Santa Rosa, Calistoga, Glen Ellen, and points between, as I rode over the Bay Bridge that morning. And on Monday, I had been able to see…
Thoughts on Progress
Construction is everywhere in SOMA along Howard Street, Mission Street, Folsom Street, and I’m sure I’ve left one out. It really is everywhere. Being surrounded by it has made me really get into it. A picture (or two, or three) a day documents the change in the tradition of my Grandpa Ralph. He made a…
A Trip to the SF MOMA with Christina
I have been digesting the visual smorgasbord I saw last Sunday at the MOMA here in San Francisco, So many ideas and questions arose as I wandered the now-seven floors that my friend Christina and I visited with much anticipation. We had joined up to see one of our photography icons, Diane Arbus. A friend…
Hints of History
You can still see the existing interior of the City of Paris department store, especially at dusk when the pillars that support the dome are illuminated. Glass and steel are fine, but the building that now houses Neiman Marcus is no match to the old classic department store that once stood on the corner of…
A Love Letter to the City of San Francisco
I love you, San Francisco. Sometimes I hate you, sometimes I’m indifferent, but I always come back to you. It’s not just because I work in the heart of you, in Union Square. It’s not because I spent 20ish years moving around you, from apartment to apartment, trying to figure out your mysteries as I…
Another Morning, Another Commute
Friday morning, January 6th, 2017. They are calling it the calm before the storm, as a monstrous wet and windy storm is on its way tonight. But the real battle in the Bay Area today was getting the hell to San Francisco in time to clock in to work on time. The last time our…
Millennium Tower Christmas Tree
Wandering the city at night, a sign of humanity above winks above the MUNI bus, catching my eye. The Salesforce tower is to my right, climbing massively and ever ploddingly into the sky. This is the changing skyline of Mission Street, easily seen from the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Obscured by fog at its very…
