Tuesday, April 21, 2015

THE ART DECO PACIFIC BELL TOWER - A SAN FRANCISCO LANDMARK

The 26-floor building was originally called the Pacific Telephone Building when it was completed in 1925, and it was San Francisco's first significant skyscraper development when construction began in 1924. The architect was Timothy L. Pflueger, partner in the firm Miller & Pflueger, at the time a rising star of San Francisco's architect community. For 44 years until 1978, the top of the roof was used to convey official storm warnings to sailors at the direction of the US Weather Bureau, in the form of a 25 foot long triangular red flag by day, and a red light at night.
After years of standing vacant the edifice was restored and reborn as office space with Yelp as the main tenant. It has been renamed 140NM and is known by the philistines among as "the Yelp building".
I photographed it for the owners Wilson Meany Sullivan.













Tuesday, April 14, 2015

REX RAY - Studio, Artwork and Home

REX RAY
Sept. 11, 1956 - Feb 9, 2015
For many years, Rex Ray owned two units at the Allied Box Factory, a condo development conducive to artists, on Folsom Street. One unit was his residence and the other his art studio, and he spent all his waking hours in the studio creating his art, a hybrid of painting and collage. “Rex was the hardest-working artist I’ve ever met,” said Griff Williams, who has owned Gallery 16 in San Francisco for 25 years. “He literally created thousands of works, and virtually all of it has been sold to collectors, either private or public. That’s a mind-numbing feat for any artist.” (paraphrased from Sam Whiting on SF Gate)
I was honored to be able to make these photographs in Rex's studio and home in the days after his death and was extremely humbled to be in the presence of his art

















Friday, April 10, 2015

The San Francisco Public Safety Building in Mission Bay

It houses the SFPD HQ, SFFD Station 4 and several other agencies engaged with public safety.
HOK designed the building, which is targeting LEED Gold certification, with Mark Cavagnero Associates. The First Responder Plaza is by artist Paul Kos, 2014.