Last Summer in San Jose
Photos by Seth Hemmelgarn

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Over the summer, I set out to do a photo essay on the changes happening in downtown San Jose, as the city is taken over by look-alike condos and nightclubs. I found the changes a little disturbing. So I started asking other people what they thought.

Really, though, I was looking for an excuse to take people's pictures. I moved to San Jose in 1998 from Missouri where, at the time, there wasn't nearly as much diversity as there is in San Jose. I wanted to capture at least a little bit of that.

While I was taking these photos, I asked people what they thought of what's going on downtown. Some people said they missed certain places, and a couple people bemoaned the lack of affordable housing. But for the most part, people seemed to like what was going on. And how could I argue with them? Most of the people I talked to had lived in San Jose all their lives.

In these photos, many of these people look like they were eager for me to hurry up and take the picture. But I was pleasantly surprised by how many people were willing to have their picture taken. I feel really lucky for that.

Looking at these photos makes me a little nostalgic. When I was taking these photos, I was experiencing some changes myself. I'd just quit my job, so I had a lot of time to take pictures, eat $2 burritos from 7-11, and figure out what I was going to do next. I was nervous, but I did the right thing. In August, I moved to San Francisco, and I'm glad I have these photos from the city where I lived for almost 10 years.