The Tenderloin Project
by Eugene Kan, August 18, 2009
Headed by Sean Desmond and John Elliott, The Tenderloin Project takes a rarely seen street-level look into San Francisco’s infamous neighborhood, The Tenderloin. The subject matter delves into the everyday struggles of the area’s people. Proceeds from this video project will go directly to help the community of homeless. Black Scale’s Mega offers his own words below.
A few months back in April we introduced The Tenderloin Project to our friends, families and the viewers of our blog. Sean Desmond and John Elliott are the masterminds behind this amazing project that takes us on a journey through the everyday struggle through one of San Francisco’s most infamous neighborhoods. Sean Desmond and John Elliott asked us to be a part of the project and we felt it was an amazing opportunity to join forces and showcase their amazing work as a collaboration through our line. All the proceeds will be donated to the Tenderloin District to help build the community for the homeless. Hope exists and giving back to the community a little at a time makes a difference. This is our start. In the next coming weeks we will have more information on the event and the products that we will be releasing.
“The Tenderloin Project” is an ongoing artistic endeavor focused on one of San Francisco’s most marginalized neighborhoods, The Tenderloin. Utilizing the interactive mediums of photography and film, we aim to capture a compelling and honest portrait of this diverse community.
With living exhibitions that will travel through San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York the project will be showcased in a variety of outlets, creating access for a range of viewers to see these intimate, yet objective images, and to understand what life is like in the Tenderloin.
The project will culminate in publishing the images in book form, with proceeds from the sales being donated to organizations that promote and give access to art in the Tenderloin. This, we feel, will allow our project to live on for years and generations to come in the form of art within the community.”
The girl in the pictures with the hat on passed away a few days ago. Tough life in the TL
its not to glorify the crime within that neighborhood guys, its focusing on the homeless community and their everyday struggles
Nice video. As someone who lives in the heart of the TL, I doublefuckingdare anyone with ‘george’s attitude to take a stroll on down to Turk and Leavenworth and see how long it takes you to get mugged…and that’s in broad daylight at noon. My personal gunshot meter (typical of most high crime urban locales, you can’t count on any news coming out of this part of the city…you only find out what’s going on by putting your ear to the street) can vouch for this place being grimey as fuck, it actually is a bit like Jaurez, and I know because I’ve been living here for the past 4 years.
That said a lot of these photos are not from that part of the loin, they are more towards Polk Street (i.e. hipsterville) or up towards the tourist infested Union Square, which are considerably safer than, say, Turk and Jones. Real nice video though, I hope more of this type of work comes out of the Loin.
fuck hipsters.
homeless > hipsters any day.
Hey thank you for all the responses. We just posted the following on our blog:
The incentive for this project is to engage with The Tenderloin and to interact with members who live in the community; be it on the street, in an apartment or an SRO. The means by which we are engaging with the neighborhood is through the mediums of photography and film.
We aren’t trying to stereotype the Tenderloin as being a bad or dangerous community, nor are we trying to directly change the community, ie. to take drugs off the streets, or to put an end to homelessness, both of which are undeniable problems that live within the community. Instead we are trying to take small steps through our project to help shine a positive light on the community and to try and give some of the members a voice, a face, and to share their stories with the world. Ultimately we are trying to showcase the community both creatively and positively, while also remaining honest and objective to what life is actually like on the streets there.
We will be releasing a series of short-documentaries on the website over the course of the next couple months to further share the stories of the subjects that have been photographed as part of the project.
This is a young project and it’s continually re-defining itself as it evolves. We are now working to put up a paypal account on the site so that people who want to get involved can help contribute to the project.
We appreciate all of the feedback and are inspired to see so many people reacting to the imagery.
Thank you,
Sean & John
so i go through it every day and its always just as messed as the day before and has been that way for a long time so it kinda pisses me off that only now people r realizing and trying to document this just now
I only live a few blocks from the TL, its funny to see all of this just now documented.
Its not as bad as it once was but certainly is a filthy and disgraceful part of town..
THIS PROJECT DOES NOT PROMOTE HOW BAD THE TENDERLOINS IS. ITS ABOUT THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY THAT LIVES IN IT. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE HOMELESS AND HOW THEY LIVE AND HOW THEY SHARED THEIR LIVES WITH THE CREATORS OF THIS PROJECT.
MORE INFO TO COME IN THE NEXT COMING WEEKS. THANKS FOR YOUR WORDS.
John Elliot – you deserve all the recognition this project deserves!
I am truly excited about the future of this brilliant idea, and watch with anticipation as is continues to grow.
Good work fella!
Alex Matthews
grew up in TL my whole life to cambodian immigrants. if ur not form the L dont talk mess. its crazzy. u name it, gangs , drugs, prostitution, all flourish in the L. cops dont even regulate out here. im glad to see that the arts are able to speak out here..because theres a lot of great artist that call tl home but like stated..because we dont have money, we are subjected to massive disenfranchisement.
After watching the video and checking out the website i feel compelled to respond. This project although a bit vague seems very interesting! I cant wait to see what comes out next. These images are shocking, moving and at times joyful. I hope to see more soon.
im with PJ, and george youre an idiot, it may not be the most dangerous place in the states cause theirs way more junkies than dealers but i still been robbed a good 5 times in my life late at night
As a SF native. I do believe that this is a great project for you guys, but the TL isn’t as bad as it used to be. Viewers of this project will see the pictures, yes, but will never get the feel of the neighborhood as it once was back in the 80’s and early 90’s. Yes homelessness still is a problem there, but nowhere near as bad as it was.
KJax22
What is the song that is used?
… BUT I CAN’T FUCKIN WAIT FOR MORE TENDERLOIN “THEMED” PRODUCTS.
BULLSHIT. I WANT A GLIDE MEMORIAL FITTED.
IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT MARGINALIZED NEIGHBORHOODS, WHY NOT TAKE PICTURES OF HUNTER’S POINT.
IT’S THE FUCKING TENDERLOIN. IT’S NO WHERE NEAR AS BAD AS IT USED TO BE.
The lower part of the Tenderloin is grimy. I like the photos and the concept but what killed it fr me was bum penis. Please edit that dude taking a piss out! I must poke my eyes out now.
I love my hood.
Great to see this incredible project finally getting the recognition it deserves! As John’s younger brother, I’ve seen him and Sean pour incredible amounts of time and energy into a project that aims at benefiting the community and in no way will line their pockets. Congrats boys, and I cannot wait to see the final product!
Ill.
ya those dudes know alot about the tl, this should make a good ten dollars for a homeless shelter
Powerful…great work!
wow. these images are moving and powerful. I look forward to seeing this a a finished product!
good work!
this is such bullshit, my sister lived in the tenderloin for the last 3 years and always walks home alone and has never had any issues with it. the tenderloin USED TO be a bad place to live but if anyone tells you that today then they’re full of shit. It’s san francisco people not fucking JUAREZ.
Great work!!! sean diffenately captured the mood of the tenderloin and brought shine to its burnt out stars..In life we almost never know where we’re going or where we could end up so this fim is a must see for everyone!!!!
i grew up there and it hasnt gotten any better sadly, and so how does this actually help the community? neither the website nor the trailer explain where or how anyone can contibute to this cause. Seems like an excuse to take nice black and white photos and have a party.