Frank Rippon, a San Francisco native, acquired a camera and started photographing while in his early teens. “Rip” began photographing local college teams out of high school and shortly after approached the San Francisco 49ers organization to shoot.   He started his long career with the 49ers shooting every home game from 1948 through the 1984 season. Rip’s iconic black and white shots of the team’s sideline and on-field action during the early football era truly documented the roots of the 49ers past.