Book dossier

San Francisco neon

by Al Barna

Al Barna has been creating series of San Francisco street photography for 40 years. When he first arrived in San Francisco in the 1970s, he captured his favorite neon signs in black and white 35 mm, then turned to other street subjects for the next few decades. When the animated donut sign was removed from Mission Street, he and his wife Randall were inspired to document the landscape of surviving neon in San Francisco in a book. So many iconic signs have been lost, and more disappear every year, leaving a gap, like a missing tooth, on the block. It seems like a bit of a miracle when a vintage art deco neon sign survives intact in neighborhoods where upscale eateries are replacing corner markets, dry cleaners, and donut shops. The time for this book is now, and it can give leverage to change the trend of vanishing neon in our uniquely artistic city.