Rosskam, Edwin. San Francisco: West Coast Metropolis by Edwin Rosskam.

The Face of America series. Alliance, 1939. Introduction by William Saroyan. [Rosskam's first book, produced in collaboration with his wife Louise Rosskam. Innovative in the sequencing and layout of photographs.  The Rosskams went on to become associated with Roy Stryker at the Farm Security Administration, OWI, and Standard Oil. ] Cloth, VG+, previous owner's bookplate inside cover, with protected, good, edge-chipped dust jacket (hard to find with a dust jacket in any condition).  Summary:

San Francisco: West Coast Metropolis is a significant documentary photo-text volume compiled, written, and photographed by photojournalist Edwin Rosskam. Issued as part of "The Face of America" series, the book captures the distinct cultural, economic, and social fabric of San Francisco at the tail end of the Great Depression.

The Literary Introduction

The book features a prominent introduction by acclaimed American novelist and playwright William Saroyan. His text sets a lyrical, nostalgic, and deeply humanistic tone, celebrating San Francisco not just as a geographical location, but as an accepting refuge for diverse cultures, eccentric personalities, and working-class dreamers.

Core Narrative and Visual Focus

Rosskam utilizes a documentary style deeply influenced by his contemporaneous work with the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Rather than producing a glossy travelogue or a standard tourist guide, Rosskam examines the city as a complex, living organism.

The book is structured around several defining elements of the city's identity:

• The Maritime and Labor Hub: Heavy emphasis is placed on the city's bustling waterfront, the docks, and the lives of the longshoremen and laborers who formed the backbone of the city's economy following the historic 1934 general strike.

• Neighborhood Microcosms: Rosskam explores the architectural and cultural contrasts of the city, capturing candid, daily life within Chinatown, the Financial District, and the steep residential hills.

• Modernity vs. Tradition: The imagery documents a city in transition, juxtaposing historic cable cars and old-world immigrant communities against the engineering marvels of the era—the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

Format and Layout Innovation

• The Photo-Text Dynamic: The volume is celebrated for its innovative layout, where Rosskam's concise prose and descriptive captions are tightly integrated with the black-and-white photographs. The text and imagery rely on one another to build a rhythmic, cinematic flow.

• Unvarnished Realism: The collection relies entirely on unposed, ambient-light photography to capture the authentic, gritty, and vibrant character of the city's inhabitants during a pivotal moment in American history.