The Tenderloin: San Francisco's Forgotten District

When I moved into the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, almost immediately, I noticed the epidemic of homelessness that seemed to blanket the entire neighborhood. Even more prevalent was the problem of drug abuse and alcoholism. It would truly be safe to say that 70-80% of the neighborhoods occupants fall into this category. In my experience, San Francisco has the largest number of homeless people as compared to other cities I have visited. I do realize there are locales such as Detroit, Chicago, and New York that have equal if not larger problems with homelessness, but since San Francisco is where I call home, it will be the focus of this project. People in the Tenderloin were pushing everything from street drugs like heroin and cocaine, to prescription pills like oxy cotin and vicodin. There was almost no reaction to these activities by the local police, except perhaps to unjustly harass individuals that didn’t necessarily deserve it. It was almost as if the city created a way to deal with the problem by sectioning off the Tenderloin district for the outcasts of society to thrive in. As long as they stayed out of the wealthy areas, there would be no need for the local government to intervene or develop a long term solution. These are the premises that inspired me. So in the Spring of 2006, I walked the streets of the Tenderloin day and night so as to capture the essence of the area in the most realistic way. All images were shot with a 35 mm film camera. My intention in creating this book is one of enlightenment, so that people of all backgrounds can see the completely ignored deterioration of nearly a dozen city blocks… Streets entirely cluttered with despair placed conveniently within a stones throw of the streets where wealthy tourists shop for thousand dollar handbags and five dollar coffees.