In the early morning of April 18, 1906, the San Francisco Earthquake shook the city and the region.  Arnold Genthe, one of the city’s foremost photographers, spent that day and the days thereafter roaming his hometown. He photographed the fires and devastation, as well as the people of San Francisco as they lived through the disaster and its aftermath. By applying his skills and sensibilities as an artist, Genthe produced images that are now regarded as the best photographic record of the event.

The ƒ/Ø Project is pleased to announce a special collaborative project with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; new gelatin prints made from Arnold Genthe's photographs of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and its aftermath.

Arnold Genthe (1869-1942), is well known for his portraits of San Francisco luminaries, as well as his photographs of the burgeoning China Town, which are a complex blending of traditional documentary photographs with the sensibilities of Pictorialism. He is also well known for his photographs of the San Francisco earthquake. Approximately 155 of the negatives Genthe made in the aftermath of the earthquake have been in the collection of the FAMSF's Legion of Honor since 1943. Yet much of it remains unknown to the public. The photographer made very few prints from these negatives during his lifetime, and many have never been printed at all. The ƒ/Ø Project has made prints from 88 negatives for the permanent collection of the FAMSF to be included in future exhibitions and publications.