In The Sky

In The Sky

James Bacchi captures the energy of San Francisco through his mobile photography

BY: MICHAEL DAKS

James Bacchi is a San Francisco based iPhoneographer and Curator. He is a recipient of a 2021 Urban Photo Award and a 2020 Independent Arts and Media Grant. He has also co-owned and codirected ArtHaus Gallery+Consulting in San Francisco with his Business Partner, Annette Schutz, for the past 25 years.

Bacchi was primarily an East Coast guy. He grew up in Medford, MA, a few miles north of Boston, before spending three years in London and fifteen years in New York City. He arrived in San Francisco on St. Patrick’s Day, 1993. He now lives with his husband in Western SOMA, aka The Hood. “I believe it took living here for twenty years before I thought of San Francisco as home.”

#InTheSky is all about capturing the tension of the moment. The moments I attempt to capture can often be fleeting.

For Bacchi, San Francisco is a magical city. “That magic in itself is inspiring! Aside from its extraordinary light and unpredictable weather, this city seems to be in a constant state of change and regeneration. Photographing San Francisco allows me to capture, create and mark time and place. I find that exhilarating.”

If Bacchi were to choose one word to describe his photography it would be “spontaneous.” Unlike old school photography, Mobile Photography offers him immediacy. “I can’t imagine waiting for inspiration or hours passing by in hope of a perfect shot. #InTheSky is all about capturing the tension of the moment. The moments I attempt to capture can often be fleeting.”

San Francisco has changed drastically over the past twenty years he has lived and worked there. “Unfortunately, economic growth seems to have homogenized the city that once felt like a safe, beautiful Bohemian scape of people and cultures. Buildings are taller, traffic is heavier, and the former, more laid back feel of the city, in comparison to what I experienced living in New York, has become increasingly tense.

The upside to developers pouring money into the city is that over time, it allowed San Francisco to become a world-class art center.” Bacchi believes San Franciscans will need time to “heal, move forward and contribute to bringing our city back.”

Read more at https://issuu.com/rareluxuryliving/docs/troora_san_francisco_2021_pages/246