Hidden Treasures of San Francisco Bay

Hidden Treasures of San Francisco Bay

Scratch Nature Photographer to Release Long-Awaited Coffee Table Photo Book

Photograph: Benjamin Susser

Above San Francisco, that venerable coffee table book of aerial photographs of San Francisco, has long been ubiquitous in the better living rooms and reception areas of the Bay Area. It’s about to have a sibling: acclaimed Bay nature photographer Dennis Anderson is weeks away from releasing Hidden Treasures of San Francisco Bay (Heyday Books).

Five years in the making, the photographs of Hidden Treasures of San Francisco Bay astonish and humble the reader. The effect is that of entering a cathedral, a call to grace and calm, emphatic proof that God is a mighty impressive set designer.

Anderson’s work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others. Bay Crossing’s readers include an elite group given a peek preview that includes Senator Dianne Feinstein, who writes, "This is truly a remarkable work. I have enjoyed San Francisco Bay all my life, but Dennis Anderson’s striking photography reveals a world I have only seen in glimpses; the Bay at night, underwater and from above."

Anderson’s involvement with the Bay is total: he lives aboard a 1927 fishing boat off San Rafael and commutes at hell-raising speeds in a rigid bottom boat rigged with a motorcycle seat. His extraordinary book will be available at the new Bay Crossings store in the Ferry Building and everywhere fine books are sold in October.


Sunset casts a shadow on the super-saturated colors of the Golden Gate Bridge.		Helicopter view over wetlands south of Point Pinole, north of San Pablo Harbor.		Great Egret on the way to the Marin Isle breeding colony in Spring.		Frank Quan’s rowboat in China Camp moored and awaiting his return.		Elk on Grizzly Island, Suisun Bay


Juvenile smelt cluster around a sunken dock in the Richmond Inner Harbor.		Moonrise over San Pablo Bay, and in the background the East Bay hills, the old winery and whaling station and more.		Yellow Bluff Buoy. One of a few privately maintained buoys in the Bay, this one along the Sausalito cliffs.		Best Herring Fishermen


Alderson heels near the Spinnaker Restaurant.		In the open clear water of the Richmond Inner Harbor.		Grizzly Island. Duck hunters preserve wetlands all over America.