Schaf Photo
Phone: 415-857-HAER E-Mail: schaf@west.net
Bio
Stephen Schafer (AKA: Schaf) documents the historic buildings, structures, and landscapes of our inherited environment. Schafer opened his photo studio – Schaf Photo – in Ventura, California in 1989 after attending the University of Cape Town and Brooks Institute of Photography. With hundreds of completed projects to his credit, his portfolio is a testament to his love of the built environment, showcasing everything from historic skyscrapers to the depths of newly bored subway tunnels.
His work, extensively contributed to the prestigious HABS, HAER, and HALS collections at the Library of Congress, underscores his commitment to contribute to the national historical record. He specializes in archival, large format documentation photography, meticulously adhering to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Architectural and Engineering Documentation. This ensures the long-term preservation and accessibility of his work for researchers, historians, and future generations.
Schaf Photo’s client list reflects a long career, encompassing institutions, corporations, and cities as diverse as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Riverside, Alameda, Santa Monica, San Jose, and Berkeley, as well as the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. He has recorded numerous educational entities, including the San Diego Unified, LA Unified, and Long Beach School Districts, Cornell University, UC San
Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, and UCLA. His portfolio also includes work for organizations like Disneyland, the San Francisco Presidio Trust, the Getty Conservation Institute, the LA Conservancy, Caltrans, Caltrain, LA Metro Rail, SCE, PG&E, NASA, GSA, USGS, the National Park Service, the US Bureau of Reclamation, the Air Force, and the Navy, among others he is not at liberty to disclose.
Schafer's architectural photographs celebrate the character and legacy of American architecture and have been featured internationally in books and publications like the Wall Street Journal, Architect Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Traditional Building Magazine, and the National Trust's Preservation Magazine. Notably, he documented 300 historic sites for the bestselling coffee table book: Preserving Los Angeles by Ken Bernstein. His documentary photographs have been used to nominate sites to the National Register of Historic Places and as CEQA and NEPA mitigation measures.
Schafer now shares his knowledge and expertise with the next generation of photographers and preservationists. He started teaching photography in 1997 in the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea program aboard an ocean liner circumnavigating the globe, then at the LA Center of Photography and Cal State Northridge, and now at the University of Southern California School of Architecture.
A sought-after speaker, he has lectured on HABS/HAER/HALS best practices at the National Archives in Washington, D. C., the American Planning Association, the Association for Preservation Technology International, and the California Preservation Foundation. Schafer serves on the board of the San Buenaventura Conservancy for Preservation, and lives in downtown Ventura with his wife Sherry, in an 1881 folk Victorian farmhouse that they rehabilitated in 2001.
Past Projects (Abridged) List:
March 2026 Altadena Main Library, HABS, Altadena
February 2026 Oxnard Farm Park, Pfeiler Farmhouse. HABS, Oxnard
February 2026 Caldecott Tunnel Bores 1 and 2. HAER, Oakland.
November 2025 Mountain View Police and Fire HQ, HABS-Like, Mountain View.
November 2025 25 Everson Street, Diamond Heights, NRHP, San Francisco.
November 2025 465 1st Street, HABS, San Jose.
October 2025 Senior Canyon Tunnel, HAER, Ojai.
September 2025 Topanga Robinson’s Department Store, HABS-Like, Warner Center.
July 2025 Firma Lodge #27, NRHP, Vallejo.
June 2025 The Big Shoe, HABS, Bakersfield.
May 2025 Reilly Lehane House, HABS, Fort Worth, Texas.
February 2025 Barry Building, HABS, Brentwood.
August 2024 Rafael Reyes Adobe, HABS, Lockwood Valley, Ventura County.
July 2024 San Quentin East Block (Death Row), HABS, San Quentin.
March 2024 China Lake NAWC Headquarters, HABS, Ridgecrest.
March 2024 Mt. Murphy Road Truss Bridge, HAER, Coloma.
December 2023 Market Street Improvements, HALS, San Francisco.
August 2023 Edwards AFB Weights & Balances Hangar, HALS, Mohave.
May 2023 Chisos Mountains Lodge, HABS, Big Bend National Park, Texas.
April 2023 Rhyolite Depot, HABS, Rhyolite Nevada.
April 2023 Francisco Park, Landscape Awards Photography, San Francisco.
December 2022 Drescherville Art Studios, HABS, Santa Monica.
October 2022 Schindler’s Kings Road House, HABS, West Hollywood.
August 2022 Crossroads of the World, HABS, Hollywood.
April 2022 Angel Island Immigration Hospital, NRHP, San Francisco Bay.
July 2022 Hangar 3 at NAS Moffett Field, HAER, Sunnyvale.
October 2021 Friant-Kern Canal, HAER, Central Valley, California.
August 2021 Chaffey College, HABS, Rancho Cucamonga.
December 2020 El Paso Gas Bridge, HAER, Ehrenberg, AZ.
October 2020 Southern Pacific Railyards, HAER addendum, Sacramento.
September 2020 Bertrand Goldberg’s Good Samaritan Hospital, HABS, Phoenix.
September 2020 San Bruno Veterans Memorial Center, HABS, San Bruno.
June 2020 Santa Barbara Presidio, HABS addendum.
February 2020 India Basin Boatyard District, HABS-like, San Francisco.
January 2020 Potrero Power Station HAER-like, San Francisco.
January 2020 Mt. SAC College Historic District, HABS-like, Walnut.
October 2019 The Factory Discotheque, HABS, West Hollywood.
October 2019 Cornell University Uris Library, HABS, Ithaca, New York.
August 2019 Emile Norman Residence, NRHP, Big Sur.
July 2019 Kresge College, HABS, UC Santa Cruz.
June 2019 McKinley Park, HALS, Sacramento.
June 2019 Pereira’s L.A. Times Mirror Building, HABS, Los Angeles.
June 2019 Ahwahnee Hotel Tennis Courts, HABS, Yosemite Valley.
May 2019 California Bicentennial House, HABS-Like, Diamond Bar.
April 2019 Epiphany Episcopal Church, NRHP, Los Angeles.
March 2019 Red Rest & Red Roost Cottages, HABS, La Jolla.
March 2019 Alameda Marina, HABS-like, Alameda.
January 2019 Francisco Park Reservoir, HAER-like, San Francisco.
November 2018 Soda Point Powerhouse Crane, HAER, Idaho.
November 2018 Oneida Factory Town, HABS, Idaho.
November 2018 Long Beach Armory, HABS, Long Beach.
October 2018 Caltrain Tunnels 2 and 3, HAER, San Francisco.
September 2018 Warnecke Buildings at Asilomar, NRHP, Monterey.
September 2018 L.B. > Laguna Bell Transmission Line, HAER, Long Beach.
July 2018 Warren Hall, HABS-Like, UCLA.
July 2018 South Reseda Jr. High School, HABS, Los Angeles.
June 2018 Hilton Hawaiian Village Ocean Tower, HABS, Hawaii.
June 2018 North Finegayan Water Tower, HAER, Guam.
April 2018 Santa Ana Elks Lodge, HABS, Santa Ana.
March 2018 Parker Center Police HQ, HABS/HALS, Los Angeles.
March 2018 2599 Todd Street HABS, Alameda Naval Air Station.
December 2017 Grover Cleveland High School, HABS, Los Angeles.
October 2017 McKeebe Mining Ditch, HAER, Folsom.
October 2017 Auxiliary Water Pump Station, HAER, San Francisco.
October 2017 Pier 70, HABS-Like, San Francisco.
October 2017 Mt. Vernon Ave. Bridge, HAER, San Bernardino.
August 2017 Holy Cross Pump House, HABS-Like, Colma.
August 2017 Mission Bay High School, HABS-Like, San Diego.
July 2017 Venice High School Shops, HABS-Like, Venice.
June 2017 Coca Cola Bottling, HABS-Like, San Francisco.
May 2017 El Camino College, HABS-Like, Torrance.
April 2017 SDG&E Gas Compressor, HAER-Like, Rainbow.
April 2017 Villa Park School, HABS-like, Villa Park.
April 2017 Capistrano Substation, HAER, San Juan Capistrano.
March 2017 Park Church, HABS-Like, Long Beach.
March 2017 Neutra’s Roberts Residence, HABS, Covina.
February 2017 I Magnin Wilshire Store, HABS-like, Los Angeles.
January 2017 First over Glendale Bridge, HAER, Los Angeles.
October 2016 Madera Canal, HAER, Madera.
August 2016 California Canneries, HABS-Like, San Francisco.
August 2016 R/V Polaris Ship, HAER, Redwood City Harbor.
May 2016 Santa Monica Post Office, HABS.
May 2016 Lovelace Residence & Garden, HALS, Montecito.
May 2016 ACE Gallery, HABS, Beverly Hills.
February 2016 Lockheed Martin Satellites, HAER, Sunnyvale.
October 2015 Vado Bridge, HAER-Like, Riverside County.
October 2015 Mt. San Antonio College Stadium, HABS-Like, Walnut.
September 2015 Mason St. Warehouses, HABS, San Francisco.
June 2015 Los Gatos Creek Trestle, HAER-like, San Jose.
June 2015 241 Tenth Street, HABS-like, San Francisco.
December 2014 Pan Am Oil Pump Station, HAER-Like, Port of L.A.
October 2014 Long Beach Poly High School Auditorium, HABS.
April 2014 1550 5th Street, HABS, Santa Monica.
November 2013 Sea Shadow IX-529, HAER, Treasure Island.
September 2013 Coachella Canal, HAER, La Quinta.
October 2012 United Shipyard Crane, HAER-Like, Alameda.
June 2012 Blue Wing Adobe, HABS, Sonoma.
January 2012 Santa Monica City Hall Landscape, HALS-Like.
January 2012 Clinton Marr Residence, HABS, Riverside.
April 2012 Bixby Bridge, HAER, Big Sur.
December 2011 Pacific Telephone Building, HABS, San Francisco.
December 2011 San Ysidro Custom House, HABS, San Diego.
October 2011 Bishop Creek Powerhouses, HAER, Bishop.
August 2011 The Ahwahnee Hotel, HABS, Yosemite.
July 2011 Cienega School, HABS-like, Culver City.
June 2011 Fabulous Forum, NRHP Tax Credit, Inglewood.
May 2011 Ortega Street Bridge, HAER, Santa Barbara.
April 2011 Hollywood High School, NRHP, Hollywood.
January 2011 San Francisco County Jail #3, HABS.
December 2010 Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House, HABS, Los Feliz.
December 2010 77 Natoma, Transbay Terminal HABS-Like, San Francisco.
November 2010 Neutra’s Hafley House, NRHP, Long Beach.
October 2010 7’x10’ Wind Tunnel, HAER, Mountain View.
September 2010 Heim Bridge, HAER, Port of Long Beach.
August 2010 Amador City Bridge, HAER, Amador City.
July 2010 Mulholland Drive/I-405 Overcrossing, HAER, L.A.
July 2010 Ontario 1 Powerhouse, HAER, Claremont.
June 2010 Catalina Pottery Works, HABS-Like, Catalina.
April 2010 Royston Reservoir Roof, HALS-Like, Piedmont.
March 2010 8600 Sunset Blvd., HABS-Like, West Hollywood.
January 2010 Top Hat Cafe, HABS, Ventura.
June 2010 Anaconda Wire Factory, HABS-Like, Orange.
May 2010 Libbey Bowl, HABS-Like, Ojai.
December 2009 SCE Transmission Line, HAER, Primm, Nevada.
September 2009 Bottle Village, HALS, Simi Valley.
August 2009 Dewitt Army Hospital, HABS-like, Auburn.
August 2009 Port of Long Beach Admin Building, HABS-like.
April 2009 Santa Paula Sewer Treatment Plant, HAER-Like.
March 2009 Neutra’s Kaufmann House, HABS, Palm Springs.
November 2008 Edward Killingsworth Office, NRHP, Long Beach.
February 2008 South Park Shops, HABS-like, South Los Angeles.
March 2008 Garment Capitol Building, NRHP, Los Angeles.
August 2007 Press Telegram Building, HABS-Like, Long Beach.
June 2006 Glassell Park School, NRHP, Glassell Park.
August 2004 Mayfair Theater, HABS-like, Ventura.
May 2003 Thille Ranch, HABS-like, Ventura.
Download our projects list (PDF): PROJECTS LIST.PDF
Download a printable BIO (PDF): SCHAFPHOTO-BIO.PDF
Presentations by Stephen Schafer:
Architectural Photography 421, School of Architecture, University of Southern California, Part Time faculty, 2024-2026.
Documenting for Heritage Conservation: Methods, Standards, and Practice, Section 106 and CEQA. Webinar April 2026. California Preservation Foundation. (Youtube link to webinar: Youtube.com)
Historic American Buildings Survey Documentation, University of North Texas, Guest Lecture, April 2025.
My Path to Preservation: Insights from a HABS Photographer, Webinar May 2025. California Preservation Foundation. (Youtube link to free webinar: Youtube.com)
An Overview of HABS/HAER/HALS, Keynote speaker, American landscape project lecture series, Sanborn Map Library, California State University Northridge, November 2024.
Architectural and HABS/HAER Photography, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Architectural Photography 3024, Guest Lecturer, June 2024.
Heritage Documentation, University of Southern California, ARCH 552, Guest Lecturer, Fall semester 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
Architectural, Documentary + HABS/HAER/HALS Photography, University of Southern California,
Guest Lecturer, Summer preservation program: 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
Association for Preservation Technology, HABS Case Study at the Neutra Reunion House, hands-on demonstrations and lecture on HABS/HAER/HALS photography. March 2023. WCAPT.org
California Garden and Landscape History Society, Introduction to Landscape Photography, November 2021 (Youtube link to free webinar: Youtube.com)
Preserving Los Angeles: Book discussion with Ken Bernstein and Stephen Schafer. 2022. California Preservation Foundation. (Youtube link to free webinar: Youtube.com)
University of Pennsylvania, Weitzman School of Design, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, Documentation, Research, Recording II, HABS, HAER, HALS History & Practice, Guest Lecturer, April 2020.
Historic American Buildings Survey Photography and History, Los Angeles Breakfast Club, Friendship Auditorium Los Feliz, Presentation and Q&A, June 2018.
Capturing History Forever, Photographing for the Historic American Buildings Survey, Photo Friends for the Los Angeles Public Library, Presentation and Q&A, June 2018.
California Preservation Foundation. HABS, HAER, HALS Overview & Case Studies, 2018. Architectural Photography and Documentation for Preservation Professionals, CPF, Annual Preservation Conferences, 2010, 2011, 2010, 2009. HABS, HAER, HALS Photography In Depth, 2015. New Photo Technologies for HABS, HAER, HALS & Surveys, 2012, 2011. Photography for Historic Resource Surveys, CPF Workshop, Tustin, 2010.
Association For Preservation Technology International, Documentation Technologies Workshop, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, 2017.
California State University Northridge, ART 455 B/C, Advertising Photography, part-time faculty, Spring Semester 2016.
The New Photographers of Mid Century Modern Architecture, Moderator, Modernism Week, Palm Springs art Museum, Annenberg Theater, Palm Springs, California, February 2016.
Historic Context Statements Sessions & CEQA Mitigation Strategies Sessions, California Preservation Foundation – Workshops, Norco, Ventura, Sonoma, San Francisco, California, 2011. San Francisco 2010, 2014, 2015.
the Los Angeles Center of Photography Workshops. Architecture on Location, 2018 & 2019. Light Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, 2015, 2016, 2017, Introduction to Large Format Photography, Hollywood, California, 2015.
Then & Now Architectural Photography, Museum of Ventura County, Arts & Letters, Ventura, California, September 2013.
CEQA Mitigation for Historic Resources, California Preservation Foundation, CEQA Legal Issues Workshop, San Francisco, California, July 2013. CEQA Mitigation for Historic Resources, American Planning Association, APA-CA Annual Conference, Santa Barbara, California, September 2011.
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE: Creating Born-Digital Standards for Large Format Photography, with Anne Mason, HDP, Society for Imaging Science & Technology, 2013 IS&T Imaging Symposium, National Archives, Washington DC, April 2013.
Building Relationships in Public Policy, Santa Barbara Conservancy – Keynote Speaker, 2011.
Survey Photography for SurveyLA, City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources, Los Angeles City Hall, December 2008. Tutorial available online: Survey LA Tutorial
Julia Dean Photography Workshops. The Fast & Furious: The Reality of Assignment Shoots, 2009. From Shoot to Show: Preparing your Images for Exhibit, 2007. Creative Tabletops: Understanding Product Lighting, 2006. The Poetry of Infrared 1999-2010, Film infrared photography workshops.
Shooting Interiors from Start to Finish, Calumet Photographic workshop series, Santa Barbara, 1999.
Stephen Schafer | SCHAF PHOTO
DOCUMENTING OUR INHERITED ENVIRONMENT