San Francisco Noir
About the Artist
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.
Following in the footsteps of classic films like The Maltese Falcon and The Lady from Shanghai, veteran photographer Fred Lyon creates images of San Francisco in high contrast with a sense of mystery.
In this latest offering from the photographer of San Francisco: Portrait of a City 1940–1960, Lyon presents a darker tone, exploring the hidden corners of his native city. Images taken in the foggy night are illuminated only by neon signs, classic car headlights, apartment windows, or streetlights. Sharply dressed couples stroll out for evening shows, drivers travel down steep hills, and sailors work through the night at the old Fisherman’s Wharf. Stylistically, many of the photographs are experimental the noir tone is enhanced by double exposures, elements of collage, and blurred motion. These strikingly evocative duotone images expose a view of San Francisco as only Fred Lyon could capture.
