Sidewalk Stories: San Francisco, 1970s–1980s

Sidewalk Stories invites you into San Francisco’s streets of the 1970s–1980s, where four photographers turn everyday moments into enduring images. Their photographs balance chance and intention, revealing humor, irony and the subtle distance between strangers as public and private entwine. Neighborhoods, architecture and passersby shape layered stories of place and community. Featuring Phiz Mezey, Karen Marshall, John Harding and Andrew Ritchie, the photography exhibit captures a specific time while reflecting a shared commitment to the city’s rhythms and contradictions.  

Vintage photographs on view from the San Francisco History Center’s photography collection. 

This exhibit is a satellite to The Continuing Story of Life on Earth: 25 Years of Hamburger Eyes exhibition on view in the Jewett Gallery on the Lower Level from April 23–Sept. 24, 2026.

Photograph by Karen Marshall.