San Francisco Wall Art

San Francisco Wall Art: Strong Versus Weak

The difference between a good print of this city and a forgettable one is almost always fog. A weak example is the postcard vantage of the bridge in flat midday sun with the blue pushed too far: correct, recognisable and completely inert. A strong one uses fog to remove information — towers cut off in mid-air, hills reduced to three flat grey layers, a single warm light somewhere in all that cool. Most cities photograph best when they show you everything; this one is better when it shows you less.

Colour is doing more here than people notice. That red-orange span against blue-grey water and white haze is the whole reason the image holds a room's attention, and it will grab any orange already in your space. Where the room is full of warm wood and terracotta, choose a foggier, greyer version and let the furnishings carry the colour instead.

Look past the obvious landmark as well. The steep streets are the more interesting subject — a straight road running down to the water with the grid stepping over hills is a composition no other city offers.

Rows of painted timber houses give you pattern and colour, the island out in the bay gives you isolation and weather, and the old street cars carry a period charm that suits a kitchen or a hallway.

Orientation follows the subject rather than your wall. Bridge and bay views are wide and want a long run above a sofa or a bed. Street views down a hill are strongly vertical and suit narrow walls, alcoves and stairwells, where the drop of the street echoes the drop of the stairs. Force either into the wrong shape and you crop out the exact thing you liked.

Here is a quick way to sort strong from weak: cover the landmark with your thumb on screen. If what remains — light, weather, the shape of the hills — still looks like a photograph worth hanging, buy it. If the picture collapses without its famous object, you are buying a souvenir rather than an image.