Carlo Velasquez started shooting in San Francisco about 10 years ago. He’s originally from Concord and would take BART to attend monthly photo walks in the city on the weekends: “I absorbed as much knowledge as I could from the people around me, because you never knew who would be at these walks. It was such a crucial time in my life because I made a lot of great connections.”
Velasquez moved to San Francisco in 2014 for school and fully immersed himself in city living. “I always had my camera on me from then on.”
Like all remarkable street photography, Velasquez’s work freezes in time what the rest of us rarely stop to notice: discarded tickets, a dust devil of confetti, a driver with both hands on the wheel of a classic car, a toddler and mother at an impasse.
“I am most interested in the small details or moments while I’m commuting or running errands,” Velasquez says. “To most people it’s just normal life, [they] pay no attention and go about their day, but I love it. It’s almost like a game at times and I need photographic proof of it.”
For this spotlight, Velasquez has drawn from a larger body of work called “Nowhere in Particular,” a nod to the destination sign you might catch on a Muni F Line train that’s out of service or perhaps has a mischievous driver.
“These photos were made with the intention to document my experiences and growth from a time of true uncertainty — peak pandemic — to returning to a sense of normalcy. This is mostly what my work focuses on at this time.”
Carlo Velasquez lives in San Francisco. When he’s not taking photos, he’s usually out skateboarding, hanging with friends, or printing in the darkroom.
You can find more SF photography on The Frisc’s Instagram.