I have several "iconic" photos in my collection from the 16 years I lived in San Francisco. Among them are these two that I shot in the late summer of 1987.
This beautiful young thing used to often be seen at the corner of Castro and 18th playing her Casio keyboard and caterwauling into the night while trying to sell her cassettes to passers-by. I was quite surprised to find her downtown one day—and during daylight hours no less—so having wanted to get a photo of her for quite some time, I took the opportunity presented by a crowded sidewalk and grabbed one of her unaware…
This lady was a fixture downtown from 1987 until I left San Francisco (for the first time) in 1995. One Saturday afternoon I ran into her after she had been thrown out of a Subway Restaurant. Having witnessed the altercation while I was eating, when I finished I walked outside found her sitting a few hundred feet away. I walked up to her and told her I'd seen how horribly she'd been treated by the staff at Subway and asked if I could buy her lunch. She readily accepted the offer and the two of us walked back into the shop together. The sales clerk said, "I told you to get OUT!" at which point I looked at her and said, "She's with me, and I'm buying her lunch. Do you want me to take my money elsewhere?"
She got her lunch.
Several days later I ran into her again, and she recognized me from the previous encounter and thanked me once again for the meal.
I often wonder whatever happened to these women…