Fragments from My Mind’s Eye
Documentary photographer rick rocamora documents San Francisco, the city that welcomed him 40 years ago as a new immigrant from the Philippines and Metro-Manila, the metropolis he left behind in the Philippines using a 21st century tool for visual storytelling, the iPhone and Hipstamatic apps.
My work as a documentary photographer was inspired by the classic tradition of documentary photography of w.eugene Smith.
In July of 2012 while I was browsing on Smiths’ book “Dream Street” about Pittsburgh, I felt a strong urge to do a similar long-term project using a different tool. Since I was already using an iPhone documenting Metro-Manila riding on a taxicab, I thought it would be a good counterpoint to do San Francisco while walking using the same tool.
San Francisco has changed so much from the city that welcomed me 40 years ago. It is now a city of diverse population, with multi-cultural, social and political activity. San Francisco is known for its innovative ideas, arts, politics, food, fashion, gadgets, music, religion and much more.
To do this project, I decided to use the Streets of San Francisco as the common tread to document the changes. Seeing San Francisco at street level gives my audience a unique view of the city as I walk her streets, attend festivals and political events, and capture day-in-a-life moments of her residents and her visitors. I hope to capture its vibrancy, excitement, aesthetics and everything uniquely San Francisco using the tool of the 21st century, the iPhone.
