The Essentials, 2020
︎︎︎ Link to YBCA feature
Project Type:
Photography, Social Practice, Photo Essay
Photography, Social Practice, Photo Essay
The Essentials is a photo essay honoring essential workers in the Mission District neighborhood of San Francisco. Using my daily quarantine walks, I created a project that examines race and labor in San Francisco’s coronavirus epicenter. The portraits ruminate on the dichotomy between essential yet unprotected, or essential yet accessorial.

Ramon, Urban Alchemy

Leo, United States Postal Service
Aura, Self
Robbie, UCSF at San Francisco General Hospital
Mike, Mission Groceteria









Francisco, Spice Jar

Jay, Recology

Bryan, Amazon
Santos, L’s Caffe


Jake, Purple Star M.D.
This work was developed as part of my fellowship with YBCA in 2020.
Special thanks to my collaborators and producer Anna Lisa Escobedo.
All images copyright.
©2020 Cheyenne Concepcion