This Must be the Place: Photography in Print Media

In the 1960s and 1970s, changes in printing technology reduced production costs and made photographic reproduction more accessible to small publishers. As a result, photographs circulated with increasing frequency through little magazines, underground newspapers and independently produced journals. 

Across the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, locally produced publications incorporated photography into emerging print networks. The underground press placed photographs alongside unfolding political and cultural events, while other titles positioned photography within broader literary and intellectual contexts. Tabloid-format pages, newsprint production and independent distribution shaped how photographs were seen and handled. 

Explore an array of photographs ranging from artistic to journalistic in this exhibition sourced from our Book Arts and Special Collections and the San Francisco History Center. 

This display connects to the exhibition The Continuing Story of Life on Earth: 25 Years of Hamburger Eyes, on view in the Jewett Gallery from April 23–Sept. 24, 2026. 

Photo: San Francisco Camera, Collection of photographs from San Francisco State College No. 1, Jan. 1969.