I was born in San Francisco in 1979, and I’ve lived in the East Bay my entire life.
latchkey kid — a school-aged child of working parents who spends part of the day unsupervised.
I grew up in the 1980s. I spent a lot of time alone, exploring, observing, and getting into trouble.
School was always a struggle for me. I was often bored or confused in classrooms. But I was always drawn to music, art, computers, and cameras.
My first camera was a Kodak Disc 3500 — a bizarre contraption that captured lo-fi images onto a now-extinct type of film-cassette.
photographer — one who takes pictures.
My first pictures were blurry, grainy, and usually poorly composed, but they were mine and I loved them.
Photography gave me a whole new way to communicate with the world.
Analog photography & family photos (1979-1990):
dropout — a person who leaves school before completing a qualification, or a person who lives in an unusual way.
In 1996, I passed the California High School Proficiency Exam and quit going to high school so I could focus all my energy on 🎵🎉🎸🌱🍻🎮💿🎧.
“The Barn” 1999. Photo by Sita Rupe.
I played in punk bands, wrote and recorded music, and toured all over the US and Canada in a smelly old van with my best friends.
Gilman Street 1995. Photo By Christan Larsen.
punk — a petty criminal, hoodlum, or ruffian.
Gilman Street 1995. Photo By Christan Larsen.
The Bay Area punk scene—especially 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley—was a powerful, inclusive space that taught me about radical thought, DIY values, and how to build community through art.
The Cost on tour in 1999. Photo by Sita Rupe.
Throughout the late nineties and early 2000s, I played guitar in dozens of non-legendary punk bands, including Jack Mackerel, Bob Crane’s Finger, Drop Time, and Dirt Nap.
But of those bands, the only ones that ever actually recorded any music (or indeed even had a single band practice) were called Wet-Nap, and The Cost.
Hope ya like screaming!
winging it — doing something without proper preparation or knowledge; improvising.
In the early 2000s, I worked in various jobs including Sad Telemarketer, Bored IT Guy, and Terrible Mechanic.
In between jobs I went on solo adventures like backpacking in Europe and motorcycle camping trips across North America.
When I traveled, I took pictures with an Intel Pocket PC Camera, the cheapest digital camera I could find at the time.
I wanted to take lots of pictures, but I couldn't afford to develop a lot of film, so when digital cameras started coming out, I bought one as soon as I could (barely) afford it, so that I could take hundreds and hundreds of low-quality selfies for free.
Low-quality digital photos (2000-2005):
In 2006, I decided to go back to school to study photojournalism and filmmaking.
That same year, I met my future wife, Briana — a brilliant artist and educator.
Briana instantly became my favorite person in the world, and has been a steady source of inspiration, humor, and perspective ever since.
kismet — a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of the future.
I had some amazing teachers in college who really inspired me to pursue visual storytelling as a career.
When I started studying photography, I bought a used Pentax K1000 (35mm film camera), and later a Nikon D70 (Digital SLR camera).
I started taking pictures of everything and everyone around me.
Film and digital photographs (2006-2009):
I also wrote and directed two very silly short-film projects while studying film at San Francisco State University. They’re basically music videos that nobody asked us to make for songs that came out before music videos were invented.
My first student-film was Campus Cowboy. Filmed on a Bolex 16mm film camera, and shot entirely on SFSU’s campus (because we weren’t allowed to take the camera home), Campus Cowboy is a wordless story of modern alienation about a cowboy who doesn’t quite fit in at a university.
My second film-school project was Baby Doll, a chilling tale of supernatural revenge! A jilted witch turns to the dark arts to torment her selfish ex-boyfriend! With hilarious results? You decide!
In 2010, I graduated from San Francisco State University, quit my day jobs, and focused entirely on photography.
That same year, Briana and I got married, and over the next few years, we welcomed two amazing kids into the world.
family — a group of people living together as a unit.
photojournalist — a journalist who communicates news with photographs.
By 2012, I was a new dad, a new-ish husband, and a working photographer. Most days I managed at least two out of three.
From 2010–2017, I worked as a staff photographer for The East Bay Express, covering life in the East Bay. Being a local photojournalist gave me access to people and moments I never would've seen otherwise, and helped me learn how to connect with people through a lens.
Throughout the 2010s, I continued taking photos of all the important/interesting people, places, and things in my life.
I took pictures any time I left the house…
Photographs (2010-2019):
…and I took even more pictures when I stayed at home.
Family photos (2012-2019):
drone — an uncrewed aircraft guided by remote control or onboard computers.
In 2017, I became fascinated with aerial photography. Camera drones were now small enough that I could carry one around in my backpack wherever I went.
Suddenly, I had my own portable flying camera.
I captured thousands of photos and hours of video footage from the air above The Bay Area and beyond.
Aerial photography (2017-2019):
In 2018, I released a short film called The Bridge and Tunnel Crowd — a story told entirely through aerial timelapse footage and scored with my own music.
My film caught the attention of a creative director at Recreation, a small but forward-thinking ad agency in San Francisco.
In 2019, they brought me on as a jack-of-all-trades visual storyteller — photographer, drone pilot, cinematographer, and video editor.
Filming a live vascular surgery for Recreation in 2019.
During this time, I also started writing about drone technology for Engadget, reviewing the latest gear and sharing what I'd learned about this rapidly evolving field.
And I filmed and edited a short educational documentary about California wildfires and climate change for Pearson Publishing.
In addition to using “off the shelf” camera drones, I also taught myself how to custom build my own FPV (first person view) drones using 3D printed parts.
FPV drone — a radio-controlled aircraft that allows the pilot to see what the drone sees in real-time via a video feed transmitted to goggles or a screen.
I began experimenting with attaching different types of cameras and lights to these home-brewed flying machines.
In 2020, I got a message from a guy named “Rafa” who said he was working on a new TV show set in Oakland, and would I be interested in working on that…
…I was interested, and I spent the next two years capturing all the aerial footage for both seasons of Blindspotting on Starz. It was exactly the kind of work I'd always wanted to do — documenting the Bay Area for a production that understood what makes this place so special.
cinematographer — one who captures visual media for movies, television, or video games.
During COVID lockdown, I volunteered to help Children’s Fairyland create videos to raise funds and keep the park from closing permanently.
In addition to the Blindspotting and Fairyland work, I also created content for Oakland's professional soccer teams — the Oakland Roots and Oakland Soul. Working with organizations that are so genuinely connected to Oakland made the work feel more like a community documentary project than typical sports content.
In 2022, I began teaching photography, filmmaking, and computer art at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland.
I can honestly say that I love being a teacher more than any other job I’ve ever done.
calling — a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or way of life.
I continue to take pictures both at home and at work.
Photographs (2020-present):
Want to work together?
Collaborate on something?
Bring me in for a project or just say hi?
stephenloewinsohn@gmail.com