I’ve lived in San Jose pretty much my entire life (32 years). It is definitely my home and I love it here. But I feel the pressure and stress of rising rent costs and fear I will have to leave the area soon.
My grandfather Wes moved from Inglewood, CA to San Jose in September 1952. He got a job working for IBM so he moved up to San Jose to begin work and he lived in the De Anza Hotel for a few months until he found a house to buy in early 1953, at that time my grandmother, my two uncles, and my Dad moved up to San Jose to join him. The house he bought is the one I live in today and this is why I can afford to live here.
My grandfather raised my Dad and his three brothers in this house. My Dad raised me and my two brothers in this house. I always dreamed of raising my children here one day. Unfortunately, my Dad and uncles plan to sell the house soon because they are depending on that money, as they are all sixty-something years old now. I feel very sad that this place will not remain a part of my family. I was born in this house, in the master bedroom (which my grandfather who had no previous carpentry experience built himself, as an addition to the house). I feel very connected to this home and I feel like I failed to become “successful” enough in my early adult years to be able to take over financial responsibility.
As someone who is not at all interested or drawn to pursue work in the tech industry or other corporate environment, I feel like I have no choice but to take the low income work I can find and eventually be pushed out of the area. My passions are for Environmental issues and I like to pursue my creative and artistic interests. I have not yet been able to find work in these areas that will provide me with a living wage. I don’t want to sell out and give up my life just to earn enough money to stay in the area. There just doesn’t seem to be enough support or appreciation for art and for what a positive and necessary part of our community it is. I think many artists in San Jose are experiencing the same struggles and fears.
Last summer I reignited an early passion of mine: film photography. I bought a used 35mm camera and began photographing San Jose because I have seen the changes; old buildings brought down and new developments built up. I wanted to try to preserve what is left of how I remember San Jose looking when I was growing up here. I have always loved the old neon signs around San Jose, especially in the Burbank neighborhood, around San Carlos and Bascom Avenue, which is the neighborhood I grew up in.
I began photographing these signs and buildings. I also began to fall in love with the architecture of homes and businesses in downtown. The De Anza Hotel always holds a special feeling for me because I think of my grandpa Wes living there in the 1950s. After doing street photography for several months around San Jose I wanted to try something different. I’ve always loved photographing people, so over the last few months I’ve been doing a lot of portrait photography. I love it so much and have been getting really positive feedback from the people I’ve shared my work with.
I built a darkroom in my house so I can develop my prints and I work in there almost every day. For the first time in my life I truly feel like an artist and this work brings me so much joy. It is a dream come true for me. I’m absolutely in love with darkroom photography work, it’s my greatest passion.
Without this home where I live now I don’t know how I would be able to practice photography like I do. And I fear the coming months. I know there will be some major changes for me as I will probably not be able to afford to stay in San Jose and continue my work in the way I have been. But I will figure out a way to keep working somehow, somewhere.
My grandfather Wes moved from Inglewood, CA to San Jose in September 1952. He got a job working for IBM so he moved up to San Jose to begin work and he lived in the De Anza Hotel for a few months until he found a house to buy in early 1953, at that time my grandmother, my two uncles, and my Dad moved up to San Jose to join him. The house he bought is the one I live in today and this is why I can afford to live here.
My grandfather raised my Dad and his three brothers in this house. My Dad raised me and my two brothers in this house. I always dreamed of raising my children here one day. Unfortunately, my Dad and uncles plan to sell the house soon because they are depending on that money, as they are all sixty-something years old now. I feel very sad that this place will not remain a part of my family. I was born in this house, in the master bedroom (which my grandfather who had no previous carpentry experience built himself, as an addition to the house). I feel very connected to this home and I feel like I failed to become “successful” enough in my early adult years to be able to take over financial responsibility.
As someone who is not at all interested or drawn to pursue work in the tech industry or other corporate environment, I feel like I have no choice but to take the low income work I can find and eventually be pushed out of the area. My passions are for Environmental issues and I like to pursue my creative and artistic interests. I have not yet been able to find work in these areas that will provide me with a living wage. I don’t want to sell out and give up my life just to earn enough money to stay in the area. There just doesn’t seem to be enough support or appreciation for art and for what a positive and necessary part of our community it is. I think many artists in San Jose are experiencing the same struggles and fears.
Last summer I reignited an early passion of mine: film photography. I bought a used 35mm camera and began photographing San Jose because I have seen the changes; old buildings brought down and new developments built up. I wanted to try to preserve what is left of how I remember San Jose looking when I was growing up here. I have always loved the old neon signs around San Jose, especially in the Burbank neighborhood, around San Carlos and Bascom Avenue, which is the neighborhood I grew up in.
I began photographing these signs and buildings. I also began to fall in love with the architecture of homes and businesses in downtown. The De Anza Hotel always holds a special feeling for me because I think of my grandpa Wes living there in the 1950s. After doing street photography for several months around San Jose I wanted to try something different. I’ve always loved photographing people, so over the last few months I’ve been doing a lot of portrait photography. I love it so much and have been getting really positive feedback from the people I’ve shared my work with.
I built a darkroom in my house so I can develop my prints and I work in there almost every day. For the first time in my life I truly feel like an artist and this work brings me so much joy. It is a dream come true for me. I’m absolutely in love with darkroom photography work, it’s my greatest passion.
Without this home where I live now I don’t know how I would be able to practice photography like I do. And I fear the coming months. I know there will be some major changes for me as I will probably not be able to afford to stay in San Jose and continue my work in the way I have been. But I will figure out a way to keep working somehow, somewhere.
REBECCA DICKINSON is a black and white film photographer, born and raised in San Jose, CA. She develops and prints all her work by hand in a traditional film photography darkroom. In addition to photography, she also loves strong black coffee, reading, writing, roses, succulents, bicycles, and cats. You can find her photography work at: filmtastic.smugmug.com and on Instagram at filmtasticphotography.
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