Photography Culture
Craft, technique, and gear culture for the photographers this site is built for — not just insurance.
Two places to start: whether you need camera insurance without a registered business, and what the camera insurance included with a PPA membership actually pays for. Researching a policy rather than reading? Compare policies side by side on our home page.
A 1981 Lowrider Photo Show Came Back to the Mission. One of Its Subjects Came With It.
Otra Onda/Otra Vez reunited a groundbreaking 1981 lowrider exhibition at Acción Latina, and a Mission resident showed up to stand next to the portrait taken of him at 15. A look at how photographs hold a community together, here and in places that look nothing like it.
Read →SF Camerawork Gave Six Days' Notice After 52 Years. Three Weeks Later, It's Reopening.
A board announced the end of San Francisco's oldest photography nonprofit on August 10. One of its founders drafted a rescue plan within days, the entire board turned over, and the doors open again today.
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Your Camera Cost $400 in 2014. It's Worth $2,500 Now. Does Your Insurer Know That?
Film cameras are appreciating assets now, not depreciating gear. Most insurance is built for the opposite. A real thread about insuring a Contax T3 and a Hasselblad 500CM shows what happens when the two collide, and what actually fixes it.
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Is a Dry Cabinet Worth It, or Just Gear Acquisition Syndrome With Extra Steps?
A photographer lost $3K in Sony lenses to fungus after a humid apartment and no protection. Reddit's r/AskPhotography is split on whether a dry cabinet is a real fix or an expensive shelf. Here's what the humidity numbers actually say, and why insurance won't bail you out either way.
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25 Years of Hamburger Eyes: SF's DIY Photo Zine Is Still Going
The San Francisco black-and-white photo zine turns 25 this year, with a 161-photographer anniversary book and a show at the SF Public Library. A quick look at what it is and why it's stuck around this long.
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What Is Paris Photo, and Who Should Actually Go?
The world's largest photography fair returns to the Grand Palais this November. Here's what it actually is, who it's for, what tickets cost, and why the Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards are worth planning your trip around.
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