San Francisco in the 1960s has a legendary, almost mythical, stature. It was known for the Summer of Love, formation of the Black Panther Party, and Muhammad Ali’s public criticism of the military draft and Vietnam War. A mystery photographer documented these moments, plus other protests, sit-ins, and counter-culture events. About 75 rolls of film remain undeveloped.
Bill Delzell is trying to figure out who produced this visual archive, and he wants the public to help. Delzell is a longtime Bay Area commercial photographer and leader of the project “Who Shot Me — Stories Unprocessed.”
Psychologist and author Timothy Leary (left) tries to make a point with someone. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Still, Delzell acknowledges one benefit of not knowing the person’s identity: “It gives us a chance to explore the work, look at it through our own lens, and just imagine the power of the intention that that photographer had to be in that place, at that time, with such curiosity and interest. … Most of the photographs were done with a normal lens, which means to get up-close like that during some of the more dangerous moments, they had to be really courageous.”
He adds, “And from my point of view, it's a tremendous learning opportunity for young people to be able to look back at an era captured by one or a small number of individuals during such a historic time.”
A music concert. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Delzell recalls that thumbing through the first handful of images gave him an overwhelming sense of loss. “For me, it felt like: How could someone devote five years of time and effort, being so close, so in the moment, and then have walked away from it? So my initial response was: I've got to find this photographer.”
He soon shared five random images with his friend Katy Kavanaugh, who grew up in the Haight. Within minutes of viewing them, she told him that she saw herself. “I thought she was metaphorically saying, ‘I see myself.’ But no, she was literally holding onto her sister's stroller, onto Dolores Street, in front of a peaceful protest led by the United Farm Workers. And she and her family were crossing the street, and there she was. And so, add that to the mix, and it became quite compelling for me, that I felt I needed to be a part of this.”
Katy Kavanaugh (in the dark blue dress) holds onto her sister’s stroller. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Delzell identifies one image that particularly captures his attention: It depicts a group of people interacting in Golden Gate Park. One woman — whose face and body are painted blue-green — is eating a carrot and wearing a pink dress. Some people have their eyes on her. In the left corner of the image, two men are also painted bright green. Further back, on the left, is Stanley Mouse, the poster artist who did work for the rock band The Grateful Dead.
A crowd gathers and interacts in Golden Gate Park. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Delzell theorizes that the photographer was likely a student. The reason? “They shot in what's called a half-frame format, which gave you two times the number of images per roll of 35-millimeter film. And so that suggested a frugality, perhaps, or cost-conscious approach. And so then I thought, well, maybe a student, maybe they processed the color film and left the black and white.”
However, one young librarian/archivist claims, on Reddit (where lots of amateur sleuthing is happening), that the photographer is Agnès Varda, the French New Wave filmmaker.
“I passed right over the Agnès Varda reference the first time I saw it. I went back and looked more carefully. And someone on Reddit then posted a photo from Getty Images of the crowd that was gathered for the Muhammad Ali speech, with an individual in the corner, basically standing below him off to the left. And it matches the angle almost precisely. And this individual appears similar to Agnès Varda.”
Varda started her career as a photographer, and during the 1960s, she lived in the Bay Area to work on a documentary about the Black Panthers.
The Black Panthers. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
“It’s an exciting theory because it gives us a context for the work. … The work has a cinematic quality to it. … Their composition is amazing. Depth of fields, choice of lens. All of these things are pure, quite thoughtful. And if it was a student, then I wonder, what would have happened to them? But if it was a filmmaker, you could imagine that …. capturing the moments was really all about just immersing themselves in the moment; and that, like the notes of a journalist or a writer, they were discarded, just left in a corner of a room someplace, when the film was made. And that kind of explains how this work could have been left behind, and why half of the work was never even processed.”
Delzell says the project’s editor found an image of a plate glass window and believes that it shows the photographer’s reflection. The person appears to have fine features, decorative bracelets, loose clothing, and a bowl haircut or beanie.
“That's probably the most direct evidence we have about who the photographer was. Because we know that that silhouette is the photographer that made that image. Whether there were other photographers working with Agnès, it might explain the volume of work and the duration of the work from 1966 to 1970.”
A photographer’s reflection is seen in a window. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Delzell says this “obsession” has lasted two years, and up to 2,700 new images still need to be shared and discovered. His team will travel to northern Montana and then Saskatchewan, where Film Rescue will process the remaining rolls.
Film rolls. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Two boys sit at a Planned Parenthood table. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
A kid blows bubbles. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
A car sign says, “The king is dead, long live his dream.” Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
Two women advertise free baloney, as a man carries an anti-Vietnam War sign. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
People protest against police brutality. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.
A man holds a telephone while shaking another person’s hand. Courtesy of “Who Shot Me” project.