Sutter Street
For his latest project, San Francisco–based photographer Timothy Archibald focuses on the people, moments, and details that define the subculture of Sutter Street.
Portfolio and Text by Timothy Archibald
IN FEBRUARY 2020, I began teaching photography at an art school in San Francisco. A vibrant place, the city, and my building, was buzzing with artists and students making and thinking about art. But within 30 days, the entire city was shut down for reasons we know all too well.
New Cat Visits Photography Department, Sutter Street 2/2023
As the campus slowly crawled back to life, I began to view it differently. That feeling of scarcity had taken over—every social engagement felt special. The simple idea that we could be employed teaching art seemed like a privilege. I realized the unique confluence that created this bubble we were in: a struggling San Francisco, a historic art school, a unique community. I wanted to explore this subculture. The idea that I had unlimited access to everyone and everything was not lost on me.
Monica, Sutter Street 4/2023
“The history of photography is written everyday, by all of us”
Photographer Jordan Benham, Sutter Street, 4/2024
When trying to capture a sense of place, a photographer can view it from the outside if they are a stranger, as defined in the classic travel photography genre, or view it from the inside, which is how we all view the places we live and work every day. With Sutter Street, I could view things as a local, an insider. This was a place of history, memory, and a sense of present nostalgia.
Photographer Danielle O’Daly, Sutter Street, 5/2024
Photographer Di Mu, Sutter Street, 3/2024
Inspired by projects such as Suburbia, by Bill Owens, from the 1970s, and Jorge Columbo’s current Instagram account, I began making photographs for Sutter Street every single day. Portraits of the students, still-life images of found creations, cryptic notes on the street, and haunting views of a struggling San Francisco, the images weave together, creating a sense of place.
My hope is that this series ideally captures this unique moment in history and breaks it down into tiny little pieces for us to relive.
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Timothy Archibald is a San Francisco–based photographer known for his emotive and narrative-driven work. His notable projects include “Echolilia,” a series capturing his autistic son’s unique behaviors, and “Sex Machines: Photographs and Interviews,” exploring technology and intimacy. His current project is titled “The AI Camera Club Archive, 1941-1945” and is a work of narrative fiction using artificial intelligence. His various commercial clients include Facebook, McDonald’s, American Express, Netflix, and Botox Therapeutics. His personal projects have resulted in lectures and exhibitions at spaces as diverse as SFMOMA, Emory University, the Museum of Sex in NYC, and in the permanent collection of Le Musée Français de la Photographie, Bievres, France. He is the director of the onsite photography department at Academy of Art University, in San Francisco.