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San Francisco,CA - 1906 - Sloane and Company Photograph :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
San Francisco,CA - 1906 - Sloane and Company Photograph :
Traveling photographer R. J. Waters shot this matte finish photo of the Sloane and Company Building at 114 Post Street between Kearny Street and Grant Avenue in San Francisco after the great 1906 earthquake. It is number 62 in a series. Waters started his photography career in Virginia City, Nevada but ended up having a photo studio at several different times and locations in San Francisco. This photo was taken at a time when historians cannot place him in a regular studio. He did travel a bit. The unmounted photo measures 8 1/2" by 6 3/4." The right hand corners show some wear, but the left hand corners do not. There are some faint liquid spots in the photo and some black spots in the sky area, but it's focus is sharp and it's contrast high. Two men and a woman are standing atop the rubble to the right side of the Sloane Building. Viewers can see downed or disconnected electrical and phone wires. While one can see the building obviously survived the quake upright, the building has no windows left and there are odd things hanging from ceilings visible through the window openings. The building directly to the left of the Sloane building was not so fortunate, as it was leveled, but another high rise building was left standing next to that one. What is evidenced by this photo is the earthquake's devastation was random and selective - dependent upon construction, soil conditions, and ground movement as well as the path of the ensuing fire. Written on the back of the photo is "Sloane and Company Co/114 Post Street Between/Kearny Street and Grant Avenue./1906/Collection of Walter M. Davis/." There is a faint photographer's stamp below the writing but there are only two words are discernable - St. and California. Below that there are some faint unreadable pencil marks. On the right side there is a long strip of black indicating the photo had been glued to another object at one time.