Photographer Fred Lyon has been called "San Francisco's Brassai". He's also been compared to Cartier Bresson, Atget and Andre Kertez, but all with a San Francisco twist. That's fine with this lifelong native who happily admits his debt to those icons.

His nonstop career reaches back to the early 1940's and embraces news, architecture, advertising, wine and food. In the golden years of magazine publishing his picture credits were everywhere from LIFE to VOGUE and beyond. These days find him combing his picture files for galleries, publishers and print collectors. And he's still excited when he gets a call offering a new project.