In 1989, Northern California was rocked by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which was centered in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz. The 6.9 quake was responsible for $6 billion in damages (close to $40 billion in today’s dollars), 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. Local residents spent months cleaning up debris and trying to piece their lives back together following the disaster. For one man, it changed the trajectory of his life, and made him who he is today.
Steve Kuehl—most widely known as SLV Steve in the San Lorenzo Valley—found his niche specializing in fire photography following the quake. Kuehl became Boulder Creek Fire Department’s official photographer, and the rest, as they say, is history.
His first entrepreneurial exercise was as the owner of SLV Video in Ben Lomond from 2003-11. His store was known as the local video hotspot for folks interested in The Criterion Collection—a video distribution company that focused on licensing, restoring and distributing “important classic and contemporary films”—and Kuehl always had hard-to-find titles that kept the locals coming back.
“I started doing the pictures for the department after the quake, but after my store closed in 2011, I began branching out to other local fire departments and agencies, starting with the sheriff. I began contracting with CalFire as their photographer in 2014, but things really took hold in 2017 when I signed a contract with Santa Cruz Police as their department photographer. I captured community events, trainings, incidents and began building a trust with them. Once that happened, I was able to sign on with Watsonville PD and the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department. I’ve also developed relationships with Scotts Valley PD and I’m hoping to link up with Capitola PD,” said Kuehl.
He acknowledges that what he’s permitted to shoot—and where—is a dance with the departments he serves.
“It took a lot of effort to build that trust with those agencies, and they had to understand that I’m not a media photographer, I’m not with the press and I’m not a stringer.” (A stringer is a freelance journalist that will sell photographs to journalism outlets.) “I want to make it clear that I don’t do it for the money—I do it to help capture their work, and they know that my ethics and morals are such that I’m doing the work for the agencies and the people who work for them.”
That’s an important distinction for Kuehl: he is the only person in Santa Cruz County who does this type of work.
“I’m the only person who has the access and the ability to go where I go and do what I do,” he said.
Kuehl’s photography has been featured in thousands of online posts, including his photos from the CZU Lightning Complex in 2020. In fact, Kuehl’s photos from the fire are so gripping that they’ve been featured in a new book, “The People, Not the Fire,” which dropped on Amazon this month.
While his presence is understood and welcomed by local fire and law agencies, the community at large has occasionally looked at his efforts with a tinge of disdain.
“I’ve withdrawn nearly all my work from social media because I don’t ever want people to think that I do this for the likes or the follows or the accolades. I don’t,” Kuehl said. “If anyone sees my work in the public arena from this point forward, it’s been put there by the agencies who have the rights to my photos, and not by me.”
Kuehl points to a local press release by Scotts Valley Fire which featured his work, and social media posts by Santa Cruz PD over the past few years, many of which include his photos.
SmugMug is the host site for Kuehl’s public-facing work (slv-steve.smugmug.com). His page boasts more than 137,000 photos dating back to 2009 and includes community events, fire and police incidents, historical pictures and special events. The prices for his photos are very low, and Kuehl says that’s by design.
“I make them as cheap as I can because I’m not in it for the money,” Kuehl said.
In addition to capturing photos, Kuehl prints them for others as well—he’s a part-time machine operator for Bay Photo Lab in Scotts Valley, and specializes in printing consumer-related goods: calendars, photo books and wedding albums, to name a few. What’s more, Bay Photo is one of just a handful of photo processing labs left in the country.
“We get to help people all over the world with our products, so it’s pretty cool,” said Kuehl.
In response to seeing the thousands of images sent to the company each week, he’s upped his photography game.
“I know what I want my images to look like, and what I don’t want them to look like,” he said.
Kuehl said he is where he is today thanks to the support from his family. His dad, Jack Kuehl, was a well-known builder in the San Lorenzo Valley.
“One of his first projects in the area was the original clubhouse at Boulder Creek Country Club, as well as the 100 original condos on the property and several other homes in the valley,” said Kuehl.
Jack also was very involved in the Boulder Creek Fire Department, first as a firefighter in the 1960s, and then as a commissioner beginning in 1991; he retired from that position the week of his passing in 2015.
Steve’s mom, Renee, lived in their family home in Boulder Creek until earlier this year, and is now living out of state. Steve credits his mom with being the community matriarch of Boulder Creek.
“She supported my dad during his work at the golf course, and she had a huge yard at their home where she’d harvest food from her garden and give it to people in town who needed it. She was loved by everyone who knew her,” said Kuehl.
For his part, Steve has two kids that are well on their way into adulthood. His son, Blake, lives in Seattle where he works for the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And his daughter, Tianna, is entering her junior year at Mount Marty University in South Dakota where she runs track for the school.
For all his work, Kuehl says the most meaningful photos are of those fire or law enforcement professionals who have lost their lives.
“I’ve been doing this long enough that odds are when someone dies, I’ve got pictures of them, and I make sure the families have access to every photo I’ve taken of that person. When someone in the community retires, I generally have pictures of them at work, too,” said Kuehl.
He references the new crop of Santa Cruz City firefighters who just entered the fire service in May of 2022.
“I’ll have pictures of those people as recruits, pictures of their graduation, and pictures of them at their first fire, all of which they can show at their retirement parties. That’s what makes this job special,” said Kuehl.
Focus on the Valley is a recurring series that highlights San Lorenzo Valley’s difference-makers. Have a person you believe deserves to have their story told? Contact Christina Wise at cw***@we*****.com.
