I am continually fascinated and intrigued by the diverse peoples that call San Francisco home.
In the Tenderloin, near Polk and Sutter, is a mosque, next door to a sushi restaurant and across the street from a fetish shoe store. I often see men in their long robes and skull caps, sometimes accompanied by young sons, walking around the neighborhood after their visit to the mosque. But I never see the little girls.
Here I did, once. I think their expressions are priceless.
Love the middle girl’s expression!
Me, too. And the little one on the right.
You definitely have the eye for catching sweet moments!
I live a block away from that mosque, and see the men in robes and keffiyehs every morning before sunrise as I’m heading out to work. They wear beards, sandals on their feet and skullcaps on their heads, and they look like they’ve just come in from riding across the desert. Occasionally — especially on Sundays — I’ll see an entire family, or a mother (often in full, head-to-toe black burqa) herding her children to the mosque for services.
And yes, the juxtaposition of the sushi restaurant and fetish shoe shop with the mosque — which used to be a Christian mission; the sign once read, “JESUS is the light of the WORLD” — is rather strange and wonderful. It’s part of why I love this city so much.
Hi Generik,
I really appreciate your perspective as a resident of the neighborhood. You’ve inspired me to be over there on a Sunday. I once saw an elderly woman with a tattooed blue line running from her lower lip down her chin which someone told me was a Berber tattoo.
If you have any photos of the way Sutter used to look before the mosque, let me know. I agree, your neighborhood is way cool.
Julie –
I’ve also seen a woman with that same tattoo; in fact, I think I’ve seen more than one. It is a very cosmopolitan neighborhood, isn’t it?
As for pictures of the ‘hood before the mosque, unfortunately, I’m afraid I don’t have any. (I really wish I did, because the old mission sign was totally cool.) The mosque took over before I started shooting digital, and before I started seriously documenting my neighborhood and other parts of SF.
BTW, you may know me better as Generik11 on Flickr, just in case you didn’t recognize my handle.
I call it luck.
It is a great neighborhood and worth visiting often. I definitely would love to see that woman again and maybe be fortunate enough to take her portrait! I had a feeling that you were the same Flickr contact… thanks for visiting here, too.