Supporters and opposers to the protected bike lane projected on Hopkins Street gather for a rally on Saturday, Jan 21, 2023.
The "Medak Center," Berkeley Rep's new artist housing building at 2009 Addison St.
The temporary housing facility was named after long-time managing director Susie Medak who retired in August 2022.
For the past three years, I’ve explored Berkeley by bus, bike, and on foot as Berkeleyside’s only visual reporter, telling the story of a changing city, one person and one community at a time. My work was supported through the CatchLight Local Fellowship and the Report for America program.
I’ve had the extraordinary privilege of documenting history as it unfolded — from capturing the formation of Berkeley High’s first all-female flag football team to shadowing Adena Ishii, Berkeley’s first-ever woman of color elected mayor, on the day the results came in.
I also closely documented the battle over the future of People’s Park, photographing through winter storms, protests, and night raids. I was inside the park when UC Berkeley installed the first shipping container to build the wall that now encloses it.
My assignments also allowed me to understand different facets of California History, from listening to Holocaust survivors and Black Berkeleyans fighting against displacement from historic enclaves.
My Berkeley archive has thousands upon thousands of images from sunrise to sunset, on the hills and out in the water of the Bay, and spending my days in so many homes, classrooms, businesses, and parks has been a true joy, as has been sharing space with people driving change in their community.
June 6, 2024. Hundreds of migrant workers and their families living in the backstretch of the Golden Gate Fields will leave the track and Berkeley after its closing on June 19th. Many are still scrambling to secure new work, housing, and schools for their children across California. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight
Alison Knowles attends the opening of her "Celebration Red" interactive installation at BAMPFA on July 23. Knowles, 89, who was a part of the avant-garde Flexus movement, is having her first retrospective show at the Berkeley Museum from July 20 to February 12th.
UC Berkeley placing shipping container fence after UC police in riot gear enter People's Park. Cal is blocking off the historic park as a case to build student housing there moves through the state Supreme Court. At least 100 law enforcement officers are on the scene and there have been multiple arrests.
The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club hosts a friendly game on July 6th
June 7- San Pablo Ave empty lot. Neighbors oppose projected a six-story apartment complex
UC Berkeley academic employees rally on Sproul Plaza on Monday 14, 2022. Thousands of of students across Unoverity of California Campuses walked off from work in one of the largest strikes in the country. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
The first of two expected storms hit Berkeley in the early morning of Thursday, December 1st, morning.
Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
Chaparral Home for elderly people. August 2rd, 2022.
People's Park, June 3rd, 2022 People's Park
Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
On Valentines Day Transit nerds chatted up lovelorn romantics on a special train departing from the Downtown Berkeley BART station.
Activists and protestors occupy People's Park after UC Berkeley begins student housing construction, on August 3th, 2022.
Ailey Camp, a six-week dance summer camp serving east bay middle schoolers, returned to Cal Campus after a two-year covid break.
For photo of the week: King Pool in North Berkeley reopened for the summer.
Kites on Cesar Chavez Park. This year's Berkeley Kite Festival wont have place due to unaffordable permit fees.
BHS HERO Club- Fentanyl Harm reduction club. A Berkeley High student group
Long fellow memorial for Jazy and Angel Sotelo Garcia
New buildings in Berkeley could be less deadly for birds as the city approves an ordinance requiring large housing projects and office buildings to include materials that prevent birds from flying into windows and other reflective features.
Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit organization at the Marina, has been at odds with the city of Berkeley over a possible move out of the berths at the end of the J dock they have occupied since the 1970s. The move, they say, would hinder their ability to teach necessary sailing techniques.
The Big Bounce at the Golden Gate Fields
Berkeley Fire Department officers participate in a training to test new breathing apparatuses at BFD Station No.6 in Northwest Berkeley, September 15, 2023.
Long Haul Community center, located at 3130 Shattuck Avenue since 1979, might be forced to close or move as the building owners plan to tear it down and build an 8-story affordable housing development. The building also hosts the Homeless Action Center (HAC), which provides legal assistance to homeless and disabled people across Alameda County.
Paul Canin, a famed retired architect and a prisoner of war during World War II, celebrated his hundredth birthday in late April. Paul and his wife, Helen, have lived on a houseboat in the Berkeley Marina since the 80s after the couple retired. May 11, 2023.
Aquatic Park, the West Berkeley public park along Interstate 80, and its artificial mile-long lagoon have been at the center of different and sometimes clashing visions about its future. The park features picnic areas, "Dream Land," a children's playground, a pedestrian and bicycle path, and a disc golf course, and it hosts several organizations like the Rowing Club and Waterside Workshops with boating, sailing workshops, and a community bike shop. February 24, 2024. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
Over a hundred Cal students and community members rallied at Sproul Plaza to protest the new administration's migration policies and immigration raids across the country. January 29, 2025.
The culture wars of the Protected bike lane on Hopkins
UC Berkeley placing shipping container fence after UC police in riot gear enter People's Park. Cal is blocking off the historic park as a case to build student housing there moves through the state Supreme Court. At least 100 law enforcement officers are on the scene and there have been multiple arrests.
The City is now applying to convert the 42-room University Inn hotel into permanent supportive housing for homeless residents. Still, current residents at the hotel have raised concerns about treatment and the quality of the lodging.
Lillian Kang, Berkeley-based food stylist, and shopping expert, tackles a day of grocery shopping for a family of four at Berkeley Bowl West. February 23, 2023. Credit: Ximena Natera, Nosh/CatchLight Berkeley United States
Members of the East Bay Samoan community gather for a vigil in memory of Eli Mata'afa in San Lorenzo. Mata'afa, a 29 years old graduate student in the divinity program at the Pacific School of Religion, was killed in shooting on Saturday morning in Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight
With Oasis Pro dojo in San Pablo Avenue, wrestling bubbles up in Berkeley.
Over a hundred Cal students and community members rallied at Sproul Plaza to protest the new administration's migration policies and immigration raids across the country. January 29, 2025.
Adena Ishii wins Berkeley Mayor race. Nov 20, 2024.
Patrick Dooley, artistic director of Shotgun Players, Dec 21, 2024. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local
eb 14, 2025. On Valentines Day Transit nerds chatted up lovelorn romantics on a special train departing from the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local
Hundreds of migrant workers and their families living in the backstretch of the Golden Gate Fields will leave the track and Berkeley after its closing on June 19th. Many are still scrambling to secure new work, housing, and schools for their children across California. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight
Diptic part 2- Lorena Robledo, a horse walker, washes a horse after training. Hundreds of migrant workers and their families living in the backstretch of the Golden Gate Fields will leave the track and Berkeley after its closing on June 19th. Many are still scrambling to secure new work, housing, and schools for their children across California. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight
Academic workers with children gathered for a kid-friendly rally on Friday, Dec 9, on Sather Plaza to ask for better labor conditions for students with families.
Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
Green Day performed in front of 42,000 fans during the home stop of their "Saviors" tour at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Berkeley United States
Jacob Segr
Farhat Noorzad, a Berkeley High student who fled Afghanistan with her family in 2021, received the Chris Kindness Award for helping other newcomer students navigate their new lives in Berkeley. Farhat, the oldest of five siblings, speaks five languages, including Spanish, which she learned from scratch in Spain, where the family lived for a year before relocating to California. "Everything was new... I needed someone to translate for me, be with me, and be my friend. Sadly, I didn't have one. That's when I promised myself that if I met someone like me, I would do anything to help them." said Noorzad.
Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
Young baseball players attend practice at Shortstop Management, a baseball training facility, owned by the Guinn family in Fairfield. June 24, 2024.
The South Berkeley Community Church was one of the first multiracial churches established in the country, and Its leaders and members helped shape Berkeley. Eighty years on, the remaining congregants are fighting to keep it alive as the church could be auctioned off in 2025. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight Local
