20 Wonderful Photos of San Francisco’s SoMa District During the Late 1970s and Early 1980s

In 1978, Janet Delaney moved to San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) district because the location was central and the rent was cheap. She was a student at the San Francisco Art Institute at the time. Delaney began taking photographs with a view camera on the weekends. She initially shot construction sites near her apartment, including the vast Moscone convention center. “As I continue to photograph in San Francisco and in urban areas around the world,” says Delaney, “I see that who plays and who pays remains, as it always was, the central issue.”

Saturday Afternoon, Howard between 3rd and 4th Streets, 1981

Flag Makers, Natoma at 3rd Street, 1982

Across from the Moscone Center, 3rd at Tehama Street, 1980

Artist in her Studio, Project One, 10th at Howard Street, 1980

Back porch view, 62 Langton Street, 1975

Longtime Neighbors, Langton at Folsom Street, 1980

Mr. Giannini in his Barbershop, Established 1932, 480 6th Street, 1980

Hamburger Mary’s, 1582 Folsom at 12th Street, 1980

Painting Mural, Langton Street, 1980

Russ Street Apartments, 1981

Mary Gardner's Kitchen after the five-alarm fire, Folsom at Hallam Street, 1981

Tom Whiting and Ted Haack's Kitchen, 58 Langton Street, 1980

2nd at Market Street, 1986

Mercantile Building, Mission and 3rd Streets, 1980

10th at Folsom Street, 1982

David, Father Leo Joseph's Roommate, 60 Langton Street, 1981

Transbay Terminal Newsstand, 1982

Shantiben Dahayabhai Patel, Park Hotel, 1040 Folsom Street, 1980

Langton between Folsom and Harrison Streets, 1979

Eviciton, 158-160 Langon Street, 1980

(Photos © Janet Delaney, via Shooting Film)