Every day for the past year, artist pablo circa has walked around a 4-block-by-8-block grid from 12th Street and Thomas L. Berkley Way between Webster Street and Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, observing and documenting with his Pentax ME SLR film camera with a native wired flash. He walks around as a form of physical therapy with the goal of connecting with his community more organically, all while photographing the Black people he sees along the way.
“There are so many people on their way home, on their way for a night out on the town, going to dinner, to pick up their kids. I started seeing the same people. There’s a reason why I’ve been called back to this space,” the artist said. “That is when I figured out I was creating a project and building a body of work. And I’ve been down here ever since.”
Choosing downtown Oakland for this visual project was not a random decision. As a native of San Francisco’s Fillmore District with almost two decades spent in Oakland, this project is a personal journey of physical healing after an injury that required surgery, as well as a way for him to create a visual archive of Black movement and joy.
“Growing up, whether by myself or with my cousin, I would go downtown because San Francisco has a huge international community. It was always an opportunity to get lost or to find something surprising I hadn’t had access to before,” he says. “Naturally, downtown is a place of exploration and nostalgia for me. Downtown Oakland is a village of sorts and a transit hub.”
Through his exploring and documenting, he’s kept track of some numbers. Six bus lines stop on Thomas L Berkley Way. He has taken over 1,000 images and estimated that he has photographed around 500 people. He’s racked up over 5,600 steps each day.
Circa first got into photography in 2014 when he asked his mom to take him to Costco to buy his first Canon T3i Rebel digital camera to take on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing.
Within his vast collection of photos, each with its own unique narrative, he is drawn to those that capture movement. Two of his favorites, for example, include an image of a young boy captured mid-jump during a spirited game of double Dutch on a midsummer First Friday and another one of a boy jumping over a puddle taken in the winter.
“What speaks to me most about that picture is the activity itself,” he says. “In my family homes, there were always fingerprints of my hands on the thresholds in between rooms because I’d always jump up and touch them.”
From Flying Dub to Street Photographer
Circa spent seven years as a member of the Flying Dubs, the acrobatic dunk team of the Golden State Warriors. He traveled with the team and performed in front of thousands of fans. During his time with the Warriors, he would also film the acrobatics practice and come home to review the footage. This routine helped him develop his eye for capturing special moments.
His desire to capture images of movement and his daily hours of walking are cathartic and a form of physical therapy for the artist. He is no longer an acrobat after a career-ending injury in 2015 where he fractured the top of his left foot, broke a piece of cartilage from the bottom of the tibia, and tore ligaments in his left ankle.
Since his mobility wasn’t the same, he couldn’t return to doing what he loved, and his physical therapist suggested walking to help regain strength in his ankle. The injury was devastating as he felt like he lost a part of his identity.
“I still miss it. I still dream about it,” he says. “I wish that I could be as physically active as I once was.”
After his time with the Warriors, he became a video producer and worked for Meta until last summer after a two-year contract with the company. In the time since, he’s been a freelance video producer working with brands like Calvin Klein, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Google, in addition to pursuing his photography.
“It was just a full circle moment for me,” he said. “When I see kids with that much energy and that much desire to fill their bodies, jump, and express themselves, I’m just drawn to them naturally because that was me.”
Oakland ‘received me, supported me, and encouraged me’
He may not capture images on slower days like Mondays and Tuesdays. But even when he doesn’t take photos, he uses the opportunity to explore his surroundings. During his walks, he interacts with people in unexpected ways. He has noticed that most security guards he’s encountered are older Black men.
On another occasion, he met a father named Javier, carrying his son Javier Jr. on his shoulder. Circa snapped a picture of the moment. Months later, he got to see them again. This time, the little boy was riding a buggy. Circa approached them and chatted about his photo project. Circa learned that the dad no longer had a car and had to walk to pick up his son.
When he needs a water or food break, he usually stops by Kinfolx, the coffee shop, gallery, and event space on Telegraph Avenue. Coincidentally, the space opened in January 2023, a few months before circa started his project. This is where he met Creighton Davis, co-founder of Kinfolx.
“Since we are both from the Bay, we connected immediately,” Davis said. “He struck me as somebody who is intentional and caring about the community. He’s contrasting the narrative being projected and shared in the media and elsewhere about Oakland being a place that nobody wants to be in, a place that people should flee from. He’s telling a powerful story of what makes Oakland special. And it’s the people.”
Just like circa’s work is about showcasing Black joy, Kinfolx has been an intentional community space for Black and brown creatives to mingle, network, and showcase their art.
“I would love to see his work at Kinfolx,” Davis said. “Also, his work should be showcased in a place where there is high foot traffic, and people are interacting with it almost by happenstance as they’re going about their day.”
Circa’s interactions aren’t always so calm. He once had an alarming encounter when he met a woman searching for someone to help a man lying on the street who appeared to be overdosing. Circa ran across the street into a bar to look for Narcan. When he got back, friends of the man were there helping him and administered the Narcan that circa retrieved.
“The guy opened his eyes, and then his eyes fell right back down. A few seconds after the second dose of Narcan, he opened his eyes, looked at me right in the eyes, and smiled.”
Circa went back to the bar to return the unused Narcan. When he walked back, the man was up doing jumping jacks.
“Seeing him standing, I felt validated. Being down here continuing to practice whether or not I feel like my time is well spent. To be useful to the people in this space in this community,” he said. “There is always another reason I’m down here that has nothing to do with an image.”
He doesn’t always talk to the subjects he wants to photograph to not “disturb the moment” he wants to capture. Instead, he signals with his camera that he’s interested in taking a picture.
When he interacts with the subjects of the images, he finds it rewarding to gift them the photos. For example, he got to meet Coco, the mother of the kid jumping in the puddle. He didn’t speak with her when he took the photo, but they chatted when he ran into her a few weeks later and exchanged numbers so he could send her the photo.
“She was grateful, and that made me feel good to be willing to take the risk of taking the photo and the risk of possible disappointment,” he said.
While his acrobatic jumps are past him, documenting Black lives has given him a new purpose. He sees it as a lifelong project and hopes to exhibit the photo archive on a larger scale.
Some of circa’s images are currently on display through June 23 at the East Bay Photo Collective as part of NOTICE, an exhibit by ten Oakland-based photographers part of the Oakland Street Photography Collective.
“I found Oakland to be the place that I can still call home. I was born in San Francisco but can’t afford to live there even though my family has been there since the mid-30s. San Francisco doesn’t feel like home anymore,” he says. “But Oakland has received me, supported me, and encouraged me in a way that I never got to experience in San Francisco. Oakland is my home, and I want to keep creating images of my community.”
Correction: Circa had a two-year contract with Meta.
