Thank You in this Year of Transformation

As we reflect on an unprecedented and challenging year, we thank you for your continued support of San Francisco Camerawork. In 2020 we recalibrated for a new time all the while leaning into our 46-year history of showcasing provocative work by emerging artists. 

Your support has helped to buoy and sustain photographic artists at a time when artists’ visions are vital but traditional sources of funding have dwindled. While the world has sheltered-in-place for the better part of 2020, the power of the camera and the voice of photographic artists have become more important than ever in showing us our shared world in all of its complexity. 

We started 2020 with unprecedented gallery attendance for groundbreaking solo shows exploring queer narratives by Jamil Hellu and Natalie Krick. We also announced our Exhibition Award with a forthcoming show by award winner Aimee Beaubien. 

Required to close our gallery during the shutdown, we looked for a way that photographic artists could convene and share their work virtually. We decided to launch Cell Signals, focused on the experiences of people who have been incarcerated, as our first-ever digital exhibition supported by streaming programs. 

Since the shutdown, San Francisco Camerawork has produced 38 virtual programs that featured 87 artists and thinkers and drew more than 1,600 viewers. As compensation for their participation, we delivered over $10,000 in payments to panelists. All of these programs were offered free and open to the public - and many are now accessible online.

We held our Annual Benefit Auction See How Beautiful I Am with a commitment to radical inclusivity and a focus on BIPOC artists. Acknowledging the centrality of their creativity and labor to our own institution, artists could choose to receive up to 50% of gross proceeds from work sold. An incredible array of artists responded with an outpouring of enthusiastic support and meaningful work to yield our strongest art sales in years. In addition to providing essential support to San Francisco Camerawork, the Benefit Auction delivered $67,000 back to participating artists, more than 4x delivered in 2019.

In October our annual juried show FORECAST 2020 went virtual and featured the work of 12 thought provoking photographers, who delivered multiple well-attended talks sharing their vision for a better world. To end 2020 in community, over 100 enthusiastic visitors joined our annual Holiday Book & Zine Fair in virtual book salons with 30 creative artists from 7 countries, including Sweden, Japan, and Mexico.

Last but not least, this year we reaffirmed our commitments to and accountability for community-mindedness and inclusivity, especially to Black imagemakers. From our Instagram takeover series to our Annual Benefit Auction to our online talks and lectures - in 2020 San Francisco Camerawork included a range of BIPOC artists and perspectives and invited new audiences. (54% of all artists and presenters identified as BIPOC.) We are demonstrating accountability with board training and diversifying our curatorial, committee, and board representation. And we believe we are on the path to transformation. We have been encouraged by your support and look forward to sharing our continued progress with you as 2021 unfolds. 

It has been a momentous year. Your support and participation have allowed us to deliver on our mission to provoke discovery, experimentation, and exchange for all who value new ideas in photography, even as the pandemic has kept us from gathering at our beloved gallery space. 

If you are able to contribute, we hope that you will support San Francisco Camerawork in our end-of-year giving campaign. Your financial contributions will help us continue our work, grow our communities, and share artists' visions as we look forward to a better 2021 for everyone.

With gratitude and solidarity, 

Dave Elfving
Interim Executive Director 
San Francisco Camerawork

Michelle Branch
Board President
San Francisco Camerawork