Pier 24 Photography facts for kids

Pier 24 Photography is a special art museum in San Francisco, California. It's located right on the waterfront, under the famous San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. This museum is a non-profit organization, which means it focuses on art and education, not making money.

Pier 24 Photography is home to the Pilara Foundation's amazing collection of photographs. They collect, protect, and show off many different kinds of photos. It's known for being one of the biggest places in the world dedicated only to showing photography. The museum also creates new exhibits, publishes books, and hosts public events for everyone to enjoy.

The Photo Collection

The Pilara Foundation started collecting photos after seeing a big art show in 2003. Their very first purchase was a portrait from a series by the artist Diane Arbus. Since then, their collection has grown to over 4,000 photos! These pictures cover the entire history of photography from all over the world.

Many of the photos are from important art shows from the 1960s and 1970s. These include "New Documents" and "New Topographics." In recent years, the foundation has also started collecting works by newer photographers. This helps show how photography is always changing and growing.

Art Auctions

In May 2023, a famous auction house called Sotheby's held a special sale in New York. It was called "Pier 24 Photography from the Pilara Family Foundation Sold to Benefit Charitable Organizations." The Pilara Foundation decided to change its focus in July 2025. They now give money to groups that help with healthcare research, education, and the arts. All the money from these photo auctions goes directly to these important causes.

Some of the photos sold for a lot of money:

• A large print of Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange sold for $609,000.
• Lee Friedlander's The Little Screens (52 pieces) sold for $609,600.
• The Music Lesson by Hiroshi Sugimoto sold for $508,000.
• Charleston S. C. by Robert Frank sold for $952,500.
• Juan Patricio Lobato, Carney, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980 by Richard Avedon sold for $444,500.

Past Exhibitions

Pier 24 Photography has hosted many interesting shows over the years. Here are some of them:

• Pier 24: The Inaugural Exhibition (March 2010 – June 2010)
• From the Collection of Randi and Bob Fisher (September 2010 – February 2011)
• Here. (May 2011 – January 2012)
• About Face (May 2012 – April 2013)
• A Sense of Place (July 2013 – May 2014)
• Secondhand (August 2014 – May 2015)
• The Whiteness of the Whale (August 2015 – February 2016)
• Collected (May 2016 – January 2017)
• The Grain of the Present (April 2017 – March 2018)
• This Land (June 2018 - March 2019)
• Looking Back: Ten Years of Pier 24 Photography (July 2019 - April 2020)

Larry Sultan Visiting Artist Program

The Larry Sultan Visiting Artist Program is a special project that brings artists to San Francisco. It's a team effort between Pier 24 Photography, California College of the Arts, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. This program honors Larry Sultan, who was an important photographer and teacher.

Each year, six artists from around the world visit San Francisco. They give free talks that anyone can attend. They also work with college students, helping them with their art and taking them on trips around the city.

Visiting Artists

Larry Sultan Photography Award

In 2016, Pier 24 Photography started a special award called the Larry Sultan Photography Award. They created it with California College of the Arts, Headlands Center for the Arts, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The award gives an artist a place to live and work for six to ten weeks in Sausalito, California. It also includes a $10,000 cash prize.

Award Winners

• 2016: Marco Breuer
• 2017: Awoiska van der Molen
• 2018: Bieke Depoorter
• 2019: Jonathan Calm

The Museum Building

Pier 24 Photography is located in a building called the Pier 24 annex. This building is just south of the Ferry Building on the Port of San Francisco. The annex was built between 1935 and 1936. It was originally a large shed, about 28,000 square feet, used for loading and unloading trucks.

The main Pier 24 was built earlier, between 1912 and 1916. Many businesses used the Pier 24 annex over the years. They stored things like sugar, vanilla, whale oil, and animal hides there. The original Pier 24 was torn down after a fire in 1997. Even though the rest of Pier 24 was removed by 2004, the Pier 24 annex building stayed.

The museum rents the building from the Port of San Francisco. For many years, the Port gave the museum credit for rent because the museum made repairs and improvements to the building. This arrangement ended in 2017.