Finding Aid to the Lisa Kanemoto Photographs
(1977-1988)
SFP 144
Finding aid composed by Christina Moretta
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
2022
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
sfhistory@sfpl.org
Title: Lisa Kanemoto Photographs
Date (inclusive): 1977-1988
Identifier/Call Number: SFP 144
Creator:
Kanemoto, Lisa
Physical Description:
2 flat boxes with 253 photographic prints
(1 Linear Feet)
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: Collection of 253 black and white photographic prints of documentary photograph projects by Lisa Kanemoto in San Francisco,
California between 1977 and 1988. Projects include Chinatown and Japantown communities in San Francisco; students of Louise
M. Lombard Special Education School, San Francisco; East Indians in the Bay Area, and gay and lesbian portraits for the book
We Are.
Physical Location: The collection is stored on site.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available for use during Photo Desk hours.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish from photographs must be submitted in writing to the Photo Curator. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Lisa Kanemoto Photographs (SFP 144), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Provenance
Gift of the photographer. 1998-50.
Related materials
Complete Lisa Kanemoto Photograph Archive at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Biography
Elsbeth "Lisa" Kanemoto was born in Idar Oberstein, Germany in 1931. In 1958, Lisa married an American officer of Japanese
descent, George Kanemoto and they had three children. Kanemoto began studying photography in 1972 and took classes at City
College of San Francisco under Morrie Camhi. In the 1970s Kanemoto worked as a freelance photographer with regular contributions
of photographic essays to San Francisco Examiner California Living. In the late 1970s to the 1990s, Kanemoto had several solo
gallery shows around the San Francisco Bay Area. During that time two books were published: "We Are" and "Dark Mirror." Lisa
Kanemoto died on April 28, 2021 in San Diego, California.
Scope and Contents
Collection of 253 black and white photographic prints of documentary photograph projects by Lisa Kanemoto in San Francisco,
California between 1977 and 1988. Projects include Chinatown and Japantown communities in San Francisco; students of Louise
M. Lombard Special Education School, San Francisco; East Indians in the Bay Area, and gay and lesbian portraits for the book
We Are. Folder titles supplied by photographer.
Arrangement
Arranged by project and chronogically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chinese Americans -- California -- San Francisco -- Pictorial works
Japanese Americans -- California -- San Francisco.
Gays -- Portraits
Lesbians -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area -- Portraits.
Children -- Portraits.
Children with disabilities -- California -- San Francisco -- Portraits
East Indians -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area -- Portraits
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Pictorial works.
Chinatown (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Japantown (San Francisco, Calif.)
Photographic prints
Portraits
Group portraits
Photojournalism
box 1, folder 1
Issei in Japantown
1979
Physical Description:
51 Photographic Prints
Scope and Contents
Includes documentation of Issei Senior Center in Japantown, classes, interior of a barber shop and interior of a grocery store.
Some photographs printed in San Francisco Examiner California Living.
box 1, folder 2
San Francisco Chinatown from The Falling Leaves of Chinatown
1977-1985
Physical Description:
38 Photographic Prints
Scope and Contents
Includes photos published in the 1980 article "The Falling Leaves of Chinatown" in San Francisco Examiner California Living.
box 1, folder 3
Self-Help for the Elderly, San Francisco Chinatown
1979-1981
Physical Description:
70 Photographic Prints
Scope and Contents
Includes photos of housekeeping classes and graduation; Hong Fook Services; attendees of Sunday afternoon dance at Manilatown
Senior Center and portraits. Some photographs printed in the San Francisco Examiner California Living.
box 1, folder 4
Milad and Family, Immigrant Family from Persia
1979-1980
box 1, folder 5-6
Louise M. Lombard School Students
1977-1981
box 2, folder 1
East Indians in the San Francisco Bay Area
1982
Physical Description:
34 Photographic Prints
Scope and Contents
Includes documentation of Navratri Festival at the India Club in the Tenderloin, San Francisco; exterior and interior of Bombay
Bazar in Berkeley; and the exterior and interior Gurdwara Sahib of Fremont, a center of Sikh worship. Portraits identified
include Preeti Kapur, Dr. M. Sharma, Suresh Shah, Dr. Ajit Arora, Ravinder Singh Kahlon, Mahendra Parmar, and Mohinder Singh
Sing. Some of the photos published in the San Francisco Examiner California Living article "A World of Sikhs and Saris."
box 2, folder 2
We Are: A Documentary on San Francisco's Gay Community
1982-1983
Scope and Contents
Photographic prints published in Lisa Kanemoto's book We Are. Portraits include Slyvester, Monika Kehoe and Deborah Matthews.
box 2, folder 3-4
In the Streets of San Francisco
1977-1988