'A Fearless Eye' unlocks photographic time capsule of San Francisco in the 1970's

KALW | By Jeneé Darden

Published March 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT

Photographer Barbara Ramos with her book "A Fearless Eye"

This conversation aired in the March 13, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.

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For nearly five decades, photographer Barbara Ramos didn’t pick up her camera. Her photos of San Franciscans going about their day to day in the 1970s were kept safely stored away.

But during the COVID quarantine she posted some of them on Facebook. And followers were captivated. Barbara’s posts drew a lot of attention and inspired her to collect them into her new book, “A Fearless Eye.”

Barbara’s book “A Fearless Eye” is having a book release on Saturday from 3pm-6pm at Medicine for Nightmares in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Crosscurrents

Jeneé Darden

Jeneé Darden is an award-winning journalist, author, public speaker and proud Oakland native. She is the executive producer and host of the weekly arts segment Sights & Sounds as well as the series Sights + Sounds Magazine. Jeneé also covers East Oakland for KALW. Jeneé has reported for NPR, Marketplace, KQED, KPCC, The Los Angeles Times, Ebony magazine, Refinery29 and other outlets. In 2005, she reported on the London transit bombings for Time magazine. Prior to coming to KALW, she hosted the podcast Mental Health and Wellness Radio.

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