VISUAL CITY
With all the vaccine news, there’s a light at the end of our pandemic tunnel. But now, in December, life seems dark. Literally, because we’re nearly upon the shortest day of the year. And with coronavirus threatening to overwhelm hospitals, San Francisco is once again under a shelter-in-place order. Small semblances of normality, like dining out, are gone again.
The night photos of Devon Kelley resonate powerfully right now. Kelley, whose work at the empty Hunters Point shipyard we highlighted a few years ago, took these pictures before the pandemic. They serve to remind us of a city that loves to be outside, but even in the best of times, embraces the night with reserve. San Francisco is no 24/7 Gotham.
Kelley’s photos get to that reticent heart, more noir than nightclub, yet they also show a city we all long to rediscover — on our own terms.
Kelley started shooting in high school, borrowing her parents’ digital SLR whenever she could. In college and afterward, she gravitated to moving images, studying film then working at Lucasfilm.
“That’s when I really got into photography, because I needed a more independent, personal creative outlet,” she says. “Photography feels like total freedom. I love being able to go shoot at a moment’s notice, whenever inspiration strikes, without having to make a plan or assemble a crew. I think my best work has come from having that level of autonomy.
“I love focusing on sources of artificial light — fluorescence, reflections, etc. I also love finding opportunities for symmetrical shots.
“I’m drawn to empty places, and I find that urban settings, which are created for people and crowds, have an especially lonely feeling when they’re empty.”
‘There’s something about San Francisco, especially at night, that feels other-worldly and sort of post-apocalyptic to me.’
Devon Kelley is a San Francisco-based photographer, focused on urban, documentary, and landscape photography. She has a fascination with unknown or little-known spaces. You can follow her on Instagram here.