SOULS of San Francisco celebrates 4 years of telling SF’s stories

“Hey there, I’m Dijon, the guy behind SOULS of San Francisco. Even though there were a lot of things I loved about growing up in Atlanta, I always had a desire to come out to California. I was obsessed with movies and Tupac Shakur was an idol. When I finally made it to San Francisco after college I was blown away by the diversity, culture, and scale of the place. The bay area is an epicenter of global culture birthing everything from the hippie movement and free love, to the Black Panthers, to the technologies today that set the standard for how people interact with each other around the world.

Once I was here I went to film school to pursue my dreams of telling stories. After I got out of school I didn’t have the resources to make films, so I decided to buy a camera and start walking the streets photographing strangers. That was the birth of SOULS of San Francisco. The interactions I was having with people on the street was the most mind expansive thing I’ve ever done. There’s something so special about learning about the world first hand like that. I started sharing these photographs and interactions online and developed a community who was interested in the journey.

On this journey I’ve realized that the heart and soul of this city is the people. The progressive minds that exist here send ripples of consciousness into the world. That consciousness has permeated my being and now, after having been here 9 years, 4 of those spent walking the streets everyday with a camera, I feel very much in touch with the soul of this city. I’m grateful for the way the city has allowed me to evolve as a human being and like most people here…I’m pretty damn proud to be a San Franciscan.

In the last 4 years I’ve taken over 5,000 portraits on the street and built an online community of over 150,000 people in 45 countries. This project spreads empathy and compassion around the world and it’s potential for growth is limitless. We made this video to celebrate our anniversary and go deeper into the philosophy behind the SOULS project. I hope you enjoy it and if you want to learn more about the movement check out http://igg.me/at/soulsofsociety. Thank you.”