Search ongoing for photographer who captured moments in Bay Area history
SAN FRANCISCO — A local photographer is on the hunt to figure out who took thousands of photographs that were recently uncovered.
The photos are stunning and transport you back in time: protests outside San Francisco City Hall, Black Panther rallies, and Phil Lesh and the Grateful Dead in the middle of a set.
Bill Delzell wants to identify and celebrate the photographer who captured these important pieces of Bay Area history.
"There's an intimacy to that work that really comes through," said Delzell.
Delzell is a photographer himself. A family friend connected him with the owner of the photos, who wants to remain anonymous.
In the 1980s, a bag was discovered with dozens of pages of color slides and unprocessed film. Someone bought it at an auction and then sold it from collector to collector.
"This work is really unique," said Delzell. "It captures everything from the 1960s to 1970, the counterculture movement, the Music Movement, Civil Rights Movement, the Summer of Love, on and on and on. So, it really represents the city of San Francisco."
He is in talks to display the photos at the Flood Building at the corner of Market and Powell.
"There's something really nice about a raw space," said Delzell, taking in the same for the first time. "It suggests a transitional time."
Delzell feels San Francisco is still in a transitional time, adjusting to the world post-COVID, and the photos were taken during a different transitional time, the 1960s.
The owners of the building, the Flood Family, heard about Delzell's mission and are considering partnering with him so more people can view the historical photos in this space that is a major part of SF history itself.
The Flood Building was built back in 1904 by James Leary Flood, a wealthy businessman. It was one of the only major buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake.
Now one of his descendants, Karin Flood, is working to keep the building relevant in the present, with a nod to the past.
"We're looking to reimagine the space for the next tenant, and I feel like culture and art and entertainment and food is all a part of our next chapter," said Flood.
The space used to be a Gap clothing store.
"I texted my daughter that I was coming to this building and she said 'I spent most of my youth shopping there'," Delzell said with a laugh.
All this was made possible by an all-or-nothing Kickstarter campaign titled "Who Shot Me — Stories Unprocessed".
It raised half of its nearly $50,000 goal on the final day. The campaign promises to process 75 remaining rolls of film, with likely thousands of photos, preserve the work for public access with the internet archive, and to continue to look for the missing photographer.
That final part continues to gain traction on social media.
"Literally thousands of clues have come in from Agnes Varda to Uncle Joe," said Delzell. "It's just unbelievable how many people think they may know who the photographer is."
For now, the answer is still unknown, but their work lives on.
Delzell also plans to document his research in a book and film.