Michelle

I moved to San Francisco in 1999 right out of art school because I was creatively inspired by the city—its culture, its architecture, the mix of people here, and the worldliness of the city.

When San Francisco started to change in the early 2010s, I felt the need to document the things that inspire me in this city as they were disappearing rapidly. Doing so drew me away from painting and illustration and into film photography. For me, film photography is a hands-on, more tactile medium than digital photography. It trusts you to go with the flow and makes you stay in the moment.

As for subject matter, I've lived in the Mission for 18 years. The neighborhood was a huge inspiration for my art, and as it changed dramatically, I started to document the people and the places of the Mission, and then spread out to photograph other parts of the city as well. This turned into long photo walks throughout San Francisco. For more of my street photography, follow me on Instagram: @luckykilfeather

In 2016, I met Jeff at Boozeland, where I have been bartending since 2013. We talked a lot about our mutual love of SF, including the things we were losing. His art was storytelling; mine was documentary street photography. Out of those talks, we decided it would be awesome to combine the two, and the idea for Storied: San Francisco was born.