Tenderloin USA
is a project that Brad Evans and I, Travis Jensen,
began about a year ago.
It didn’t really start out as a formal undertaking, but rather as a photojournalistic odyssey to discover and explore one of San Francisco’s most vibrant yet often overlooked districts, the Tenderloin. As time passed, the images we captured began to coalesce into a body of work, and we realized that our collection of photos would come together nicely in a book. In its 50 pages, Tenderloin USA takes the reader on a black-and-white journey deep into the heart of the community, focusing primarily on the folks who live, work, own businesses, hang out, and raise families in this culturally diverse area.
One of the draws of the Tenderloin is that very few photographers venture into it, which leaves the playing field wide open. And the energy in the TL far surpasses that of any other neighborhood in the city. No matter what time of day or night you step foot in this ’hood, there’s always something jumping off. Rarely do the streets get a rest.
Brad and I wanted to portray our subjects with the utmost respect and dignity. We feel it would have been far too easy and inaccurate to show the negative side of the Tenderloin, so we focused our project on the neighborhood’s more positive aspects, mixed with a little of the in-between.
Here are a few shots that you’ll find in Tenderloin USA , which will be released this week. We hope it’ll give you a fresh perspective on this dynamic part of San Francisco.
Find out more about Tenderloin USA on its website , where you can buy a copy of the book for $20. Proceeds benefit Larkin Street Youth Services, a San Francisco–based charity that provides homeless, runaway, and at-risk kids with emergency shelter, primary medical care, transitional housing, job training, scholarship assistance, and other services.
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rikki
hey hey! that's awesome! congratulations on your partnership with larkin street! oh, and of course, the fabulous magazine.
Hawadventeur
This seems like a heist of Sean Desmond's premise with his work, "The Tenderloin Project."
http://thetenderloinproject.com/
His work is years in the making, has international attention and has been awarded. I feel like any positive attention in regards to a community like the Tenderloin is great, and while it's hard to advocate for due diligence, accountability and precedence in the arts, it helps to give props to those who've made their mark in the community.
We live in an age of appropriation. To be frank, while the images are striking, I can't help but feel the betrayal of an original point of view.
rikki
So, Hawadventeur, since Sean Desmond photographed the Tenderloin, no one else is allowed to do it as well?
Everyone has a different perspective and I hardly believe that simply focusing on the same subject matter should be considered appropriating someone else's work.
Hawadventeur
I never said there is a claim staked on a region or practice because it's already been done, in fact I said quite the opposite, recognizing the positive attention for the community.
It's not appropriation of the work itself, it's the premise, rikki. I never qualified this as good or bad, you're inserting your own personal judgement into that. I also never questioned the original perspective of the photographers, whether that's of Tenderloin residents, outsiders, seasoned professionals, hobbyists, what have you. I don't feel an original point of view because I am familiar with Sean's work and it has obviously set a trend. You may not be familiar with his work, so you don't have that feeling. You're free to interpret art however you want, I just believe credit should be given not only to these guys, but the person who may have inspired similar projects.
Travis Jensen & B
Hi All:
Travis here...
First, thanks so much for the comments and feedback about our project. Very much appreciated. We are really excited about the journal and our partnership with Larkin Street Youth Services. This project has been a long time coming.
Hawadventeur, thanks for your comments. I just wanted to quickly shed light on a couple of things: Neither me nor Brad know Sean Desmond and are vaguely familiar with his "Tenderloin Project," but from what we've seen on his website, the perspective of our project is much different than his. This is definitely apparent when flipping through the pages and reading the stories in our journal. Also, in no way was “Tenderloin USA” inspired/influenced by Sean’s project, though much respect to him, his project, and everything else he’s doing =)
Cheers,
Travis Jensen
mikesmith1978
beautiful!
Chrispy
While your photos are beautiful, I have to disagree with your statement of not wanting to "inaccurately" portray the neighborhood negatively. I'm guessing you've never lived in the TL. If you had, you would see that these photos are an inaccurate representation of the neighborhood. The fact of the matter is that, while there are definitely positive people in the TL, the great majority of people are sketchy. Especially the ones that hang out on the streets. Your photos also have a pretty clear focus on the individual with little activity in the background making it seem much less populated than it really is. The loin is an "anything goes" type neighborhood. Like you said there is always something happening, but I don't see that in your photos. I just don't feel like the photos accurately match your statement. It feels more like a "the-loin-is-a-lonely/scary-place" type theme.
Travis Jensen & B
Hey Chrispy, thanks for the feedback on our project. I appreciate it.
You know, I actually have lived in the Tenderloin and, with the exception of maybe downtown, have probably spent more time in that neighborhood than anywhere else in the close to 15 years I've been living in San Francisco, which is about half my life.
And you're definitely right, while there are lots of good folks that live, work and own businesses in the neighborhood, there are plenty of shady characters out and about as well. Not sure if you've seen our journal or not, but we address this in the forward, stating that though the Tenderloin has an edge, we chose to focus our project more on the neighborhood's positive aspects, mixed with a little of in-between.
Also, the reason most of the individuals featured in this article appear to be isolated is because there are stories attached to most of these photos that relate directly to the individual. There are, however, photos in the book that capture more activity and energy, which you feel is missing from the above collection.
Thanks again for the feedback. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Best,
Travis
Run Your Mouth