Little Paradise

Little Paradise - Street scene in front of the Little Paradise market on Stockton Street, San Francisco.
Street scene in front of the Little Paradise market on Stockton Street, San Francisco.

Little Paradise. San Francisco, California. July 15, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene in front of the Little Paradise market on Stockton Street, San Francisco.

This area along Stockton street is one that I often pass through when walking around in San Francisco to shoot street scenes and architecture. It is one block up from the more familiar and touristy section of the City’s China Town area, and I think it is altogether a more interesting place to go. The street and sidewalks – especially the sidewalks! – are often bustling with activity, and it can be difficult to make my way. Fortunately, I’m rarely in a hurry here, and I’m content to move along at whatever the pace may be.

There is much to see here. Obviously, it is a place with its own strong cultural identity – one that has long been important in San Francisco – and, as such, here more than on Grant Street, I feel like a visitor and an outsider. For those of use who live in the suburbs (I’m in the South Bay) the density of people and things is quite different. There are all sort of markets up and down the street – like the “Little Paradise” market on this corner – and the storefronts are lined with displays of products including a lot of produce. Stuff is even stacked right at the curb, and trucks are often stopped to unload palettes of products. And above the street level world of the sidewalk and the markets, it seems that there is another world of apartments – sometimes with windows open and often festooned with drying laundry.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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