Meet Your Neighbors: San Francisco’s living diary

San Francisco is home to people of all colors, shapes and sizes – and every one has a story. They can be told in words ... and they can also be told in pictures. That’s where Julie Michelle comes in. Michelle is a photographer who has snapped the images of almost 200 everyday San Franciscans and posted their stories online. Her project is called I Live Here:SF.

KALW’s Audrey Dilling talked with Michelle and some of her subjects, and she brings us their stories.

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GLORIA FISCHER: Okay, so I’m just going to read from here … “I was born here in SF, the eldest out of six children. We grew up in different neighborhoods throughout the city, such as the Haight, Potrero Hill and in the Mission.”

AUDREY DILLING: This is Gloria Fischer. And these are some of the words she wrote for Julie Michelle’s portrait and storytelling project I live here: SF.

FISCHER: We all knew that when the light came on in the low-income housing that I grew up in, it was time to be in the house from playing outside. I was reminded by someone years ago that we don’t refer to low-income housing as “projects” because a project is something that is in the making and being worked on and our housing was already in place.

Unlike the housing she grew up in, Fischer’s home today is very much a work in progress. She’s been remodeling it for 25 years.

FISCHER: Okay. So I’m going to take you back to the beginning.

Fischer showed me around the house, which started as a one-bedroom cottage near McClaren Park. She remembers the day she and her husband first saw it.

FISCHER: It looked like a shack is what it looked like. Not a cottage … And my husband said, you know, “No let's go check it out.” So we parked, and I listened to him. We walked straight to the back, and we ended up in the backyard. In a huge backyard. Huge pine tree. Beautiful view. My husband looked back and started dreaming. And I started dreaming with him.

Today, the house is nearly finished: it’s three levels with a nice living room, master bedroom, dining area.

FISCHER: And this is the deck...

The deck is where Fischer wanted to be photographed for I live here: SF – in about the same spot where she and her husband first envisioned their dream house.

FISCHER: So there's my beautiful San Francisco, the skyline. It's a crisp night. The lights look like stars just sparkling.             

You can see the entire city, the Bay Bridge, everything. As I take in the view that Gloria Fischer has endured a quarter-century of construction to keep, I understand one of the reasons Julie Michelle says she loves her project.

MICHELLE: I’ve been granted access to some wonderful places, as well. I love rooftop access or fire escapes. Places that I can get into with my camera, that most people wouldn’t see. And also, it’s given me such an insight into the city and the way so many people live that it feels like I have these little windows on a million different worlds here.

She hasn’t quite reached a million, but the nearly 200 volunteers for I live here: SF have taken Julie Michelle all over the city.

MICHELLE: I have literally blown out two or three pairs of shoes doing this project and two pairs of jeans. I mean I’ve definitely covered a lot of territory.

That territory includes Morgan Fitzgibbons’ house near the Panhandle. It’s a huge, old Victorian and, judging by the light streaming in through the giant windows, Fitzgibbons has come up with a pretty good nickname for it.

MORGAN FITZGIBBONS: We are currently in the Sunshine Castle, which is the name of my house. All of the photos were taken in or on the outside of the Sunshine Castle. We thought it was an appropriate place.

Fitzgibbons’ house is the headquarters of the Wigg Party, an organization based around a popular bike route called the Wiggle. Fitzgibbons isn’t from San Francisco, and he says he doesn’t think he would have started anything like the Wigg Party if he hadn’t moved here. He says participating in I live here: SF was a way for him to honor the influence the city has had on him. Here’s part of what he wrote.

FITZGIBBONS: “We San Franciscans of the early 21st century have been graced with a profoundly meaningful existence. We take on each day with knowledge of our role in creating a society that will allow for future generations of humans to exist and prosper, and faith that it will come to pass. All that is left is for us to embody the cosmic movement coming through us. This time. This place. San Francisco? Yeah. I live here.”

Julie Michelle says there are many reasons why people want to volunteer for her project.

MICHELLE: I can tell you that I’ve had several people tell me point blank that the reason they’re doing this is they want to overcome their fear of having their picture taken. I do know a couple of people that have had – they were going through a tough time when I met up with them and they felt like having their picture taken, documented this time for them in an important way.

The project has had an effect on Michelle as well.

MICHELLE: It’s made me really want to get to talk to people and get to know them. I enjoy people more.

Some participants have gotten to know each other, too.

MICHELLE: I see them Twittering and Facebook-ing and going out to bars and hanging out. One of these days I know I’m gonna get people married through this project.

Until that happens, Julie Michelle will keep focusing her camera lens on the faces of San Franciscans and giving them a place to share their stories.

For Crosscurrents, I’m Audrey Dilling.

Catch Julie Michelle's I Live Here:SF exhibit at Mama Art Cafe in San Francisco now through April 9. You can share your pictures and story by visiting the site iliveheresf.com. And share your stories with us at news@kalw.org

This story originally aired on January 25, 2011.