View From Twin Peaks

Vintage gelatin silver print measuring 7 x 13 inches dry mounted to Hi-Art Illustration Board measuring 9 x 15 3/8 inches, signed in pencil by the photographer on the mount below image, lower right. Illustrated on page 93 of The San Francisco Book, (1948) and plate 26 in The Photographs of Max Yavno, (1981).

Yavno, a student of documentary photography and the social landscape, started his career in photography during the late 1930s working for the Works Progress Administration in New York City. Like many young photographers in New York during the late 1930s, Yavno was drawn to the meetings of the Photo League where he became close friends with fellow members Consuelo Kanaga and Aaron Siskind. He was president of the League between 1938 and 39. After World War II, Yavno moved to Los Angeles. In 1947 he received a book contract from Houghton Mifflin to photograph the urban scene of San Francisco. The publisher decided to publish a book on San Francisco inspired more by the traditions of the WPA Guide Series of the 1930s than the influence of the local chambers of commerce or the tourist industry. Yavno was hired to provide his decidedly working-class vision for The San Francisco Book, 1949. The success of this book lead to the publication of a second book of Yavno's photographs titled, The Los Angeles Book published in 1950.