As the construction of the Moscone Center changed the landscape of San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood during the late 1970s and early 80s, photographer Janet Delaney captured this period of urban renewal in the city.
 Originally from Southern California, Delaney moved to the Bay Area to attend San Francisco State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography. While pursuing her master’s degree at the now-defunct San Francisco Art Institute, she lived in the SoMa area and began to take note of the neighborhood’s changing character. During an intense moment near the Bay Bridge in 1979, Delaney had an epiphany about the neighborhood in which she lived.  “I decided to photograph because I was held up at knife point and I realized I really needed to know more about where I was living and who I was living near, so that I could meet my friends and feel like I was surrounded by familiar faces,” Delaney said. “I started introducing myself to my neighbors and t...