This week, Stephen Texeira put a fresh batch of photos up at 19th and Broadway in Oakland. The photos, which are actually posters, are the result of painstaking photo sessions Texeira has been conducting with Oakland residents for the past two-plus years. An otherwise unadorned building on the northeast corner of the intersection has been his rotating gallery for his series, “Oakland Neighborhood Project,” since the fall of 2015.

And what a gallery it is. Texeira, 57, shoots one portrait per neighborhood — and there are nearly 150 neighborhoods in Oakland. A portrait can be a single person, a family, or an entire block of people. Each subject is invited to write their thoughts and feelings about their neighborhood on a whiteboard, which is also captured in the portrait.

One of the many wonderful things about the project is the chance to see not just what the people of Oakland look like, but also what they value.

“Diversity + Good Vibes,” wrote the Bridges family, who represent the Chabot Park neighborhood with cherubic grins.

“When people slam Oakland it’s like talking about my family: I can say that, but you can’t go there!” wrote James Jackson, an Oakmore neighborhood resident, holding up his whiteboard with a shy smile.

Then there’s the classic, “#hellaloveOakland,” next to Shauna Harrison, offering Jack London Square pride with a backbend on a train platform.

I’d like to know every single person pictured in Texeira’s series, and he’s not even halfway done yet. (You can see the ones he’s completed at www.oaklandphoto.org.)

For now, the photos can only be seen in person at 19th and Broadway, but Texeira is hopeful that more locations will be interested in showing the work. (Personally, I think it’s a natural fit for public libraries or some of Oakland’s proud locally owned businesses.)

Like all good things, the series is taking a long time to complete.

“I thought I’d be done in two, two-and-a-half years,” he told me with a laugh. “Well, I’ve learned what 146 neighborhoods means. The good thing is that it’s been incredibly rewarding. The passion people have for their neighborhoods; it’s really opened my eyes.”

Some of that passion is reflected in the way Texeira finds his subjects.

“When I started, I told everyone I knew what I was doing,” he said. “That got me through the first 10 or 12 neighborhoods. But everything since then has been word of mouth. And because it’s gotten out into the community in different ways — people have seen the posters on 19th and Broadway, or they saw a friend of a friend of a friend’s Facebook post — there’s been diversity in who’s come to me. The city’s diversity is represented here, naturally, because everyone here feels strongly about where they live.”

In 2014, former Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson, profiled Texeira as he was launching the series. At the time, a lot of the conversation about Oakland was about crime. Texeira saw the series as a way to correct misunderstandings about the city.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and people seem to have woken up to the fact that Oakland is a fantastic city. Too many people, in fact, have woken up — judging by the city’s new designation as the nation’s hottest rental market. Rents in Oakland skyrocketed by 20 percent in 2014-15 and then 11.6 percent (one-bedroom units) and 13.8 percent (two-bedroom units) 2015-16, according to the Zumper National Rent Report.

Now the conversation around Texeira’s photos is very different.

“Some people have expressed concern that my project is going to foster gentrification,” he said. “I’m surprised at how differently people view the photos.”

In some ways it’s not surprising. People are never just looking at an image — instead, they’re bringing all of their perceptions, their beliefs, and their recent history to it. This is the source of every artist’s frustration; it’s also a source of motivation.

But however the narrative of Oakland may change, these portraits fix the city’s role in the lives of its residents right now. That Oakland is a place of love, inspiration, and community.

“Oakland is ... Diverse; Creative; Starving; Exploding; Curious; Amazing; Scary; Serene; Neo-local; Roots; Culture; Life-style; Trend-setting; Southern; Eastern; Northern; West-Coast; Vibrant; Old-School; Chocolate-City; Hipster; Political; Occupy; Arts; Poor; Rich; Needy; Full; and ... ME,” wrote Atiim Chenzira, for the Golden Gate neighborhood.

What more is there to say?

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @caillemillner