William A. Garnett, American, 1916–2006: Housing Development, San Francisco, California, 1953–56. Gelatin silver print, 39.6 x 49.5 cm. Gift of David H. McAlpin, Class of 1920(x1971-261). © 1953, Estate of William A. Garnett
A professional photographer active in the Army Signal Corps during World War II, William A. Garnett paid for flying lessons on the G.I. Bill and devoted the rest of his career to the genre of aerial landscape. He photographed this densely built neighborhood late in the day, when direct sunlight was striking its south- and west-facing walls.
As the airplane flies, this scene lies only moments away from Daly City, the development that would inspire songwriter Malvina Reynolds to compose the 1962 song “Little Boxes” about hills covered with middle-class houses that are “all made out of ticky tacky / And they all look just the same.”
