Strangers at City Hall

This was a particularly challenging assignment for me. Not only do I have a mild social phobia when it comes to approaching strangers in general, but that phobia is seriously amplified when I'm doing so to impose on their time and their privacy. I suppose this won't bode well for me in my future career as a documentary photographer, but I'm hoping that with projects like this it'll slowly fade away.


Craig Friend, 48. Craig is a homeless Philadelphia resident of 44 years who was on his way past City Hall after checking in a local church in the hopes of finding some food. His favorite thing about Philadelphia is the crowdedness. "I like up-tempo stuff," he says. "It's up-tempo here." His least favorite thing is "the lack of concern and allowance for others." Philadelphia, he says, is "a terrific place to visit, but not to live."



Constantine Tsigos, 19. Constantine was born in Philadelphia but has lived in New Jersey for the last ten years. He's at City Hall today to work in his father's kiosk. What he likes the most about Philadelphia: "The people -- nice people here." The least: "The traffic. I hate driving."



Dimitrios Tsigos, 60. Dimitrios, like his son, has lived in New Jersey for ten years, and has come to the City Hall area today to "make some money" in his kiosk. He loves Philadelphia. "It has a lot of statues," he says "a very nice city." When asked what he likes the least about Philly, he simply says "I like it all."


Roberto Bonomo, 31. Roberto is from a small town in Italy just outside of Venice and is in Philadelphia just for the day. He's passing through the City Hall area to sightsee. He is visiting New York for his job and will be in the United States for a total of two weeks. His favorite thing about the city so far: "I just visited the Ben Franklin Boulevard and the Art Museum - it's beautiful." His least favorite thing: "The color of the river."



Ryutaro Okamoto, 29. Ryutaro is from Nara, Japan, a city he describes as "not so big, but not so small," and has been in Philadelphia for two weeks. He's here on an exchange from Temple University in Japan and is sitting outside City Hall, reading poetry for a class. When asked about his favorite thing about Philadelphia, he says "Well, I've been here only two weeks, but I went to the Philadelphia Museum - it was good." His least favorite thing: "I'm living in the dorms, but they only have showers. I want to take a bath."



From left: Jordan Wright, 15, Randy Hamilton, 15, Chris Ancheta, 19, Matt Kownacki, 17, Dan Pogozelski, 17, Jesse Williams, 17, Steve Beck, 16, and Eric Brooks, 15.

I seriously considered doing a separate portrait of each person above, but I ultimately decided that the truest portrait of any of these boys would be to picture them with the group of friends they regularly travel around New Jersey and Philadelphia to skate with. It wasn't until I got home that I realized this might be against the rules.

**After stopping in to see Dr. Mendelson today, he confirmed my fears. While I'll keep the individual interviews of these skaters posted at the bottom of the page, I'll post the rest of my portraits before them to try to avoid monotony.

It was nighttime when I finally had the chance to get back to City Hall, so all the rest of the portraits had to be found in surrounding locations, indoors (or quasi-indoors).



Tenora Rogers lives in Philadelphia. She has for 26 years, her whole life. She’s here today to work at the Temple Bookstore at 15th and Market.
What she likes most: “The history. One summer I went on one of those tours on the big bus. I really felt proud of my city.”
What she likes least: “It’s dirty.”



Erin Scriber has lived in Philadelphia for 21 years and is also here to work at the Temple Bookstore.
What she likes most: “The diversity – you can always find something different.”
What she likes least: “Right now, the crime rate. I’m hoping that the new police commissioner has some new ideas.”



Catherine Zhou lives in South Philadelphia and has done so for a year and a half. She is originally from Indonesia. She’s here today to work at Church’s Chicken in the Subway concourse.
What she likes most: “I like Philadelphia, especially Center City. It’s clean. I like the buildings. I like the city because it is artistic.”
What she likes least: “What I don’t like about South Philadelphia -- it’s dirty.”




Kathy Delossantos is from Delaware County and has lived there her whole life. Kathy and her friend Maggie have been in the subway concourse selling Girl Scout cookies since 6am this morning (approximately 12 hours ago).
What she likes most: “The history. The liberty bell.”
What she likes least: “Crime.” When asked if she thinks the new mayor will change things she says, “I think all change will help. He has good attitude. Good intentions.”



Maggie Keifer lives in the Philadelphia area and has done so her whole life. She’s here selling Girl Scout cookies with Kathy.
What she likes most: “The excitement.”
What she likes least: “Probably crime slash trash. Only because we’re in the subway station.”



Eric Williams has lived in Philly for 23 years. He’s here today to work, he’s a McDonald’s employee.
What he likes most: “City Hall. The people.”
What he likes least: “That they won’t legalize marijuana.”


As promised, here are the skater interviews...

Jordan Wright, 15. Jordan has lived in Pottstown, PA for six years, and like the rest of his buddies, came to City Hall to skate. When asked what he likes most about the city, he says "I like the parks - City Hall is a great place to skate." He dislikes "Girard, when you go down and everyone asks you for money. I also don't like some of the cops. Some of them are okay, but a bunch of them I don't like."







Randy Hamilton, 15. Randy has lived in New Jersey his whole life, but like today, often comes to the city to skate. His favorite thing about Philadelphia is Love Park. "It's the best park, the perfect setup," he says. His least favorite thing: "getting caught by the cops."








Chris Ancheta, 19, lives in New Jersey like most of his skating pals. Of the city he says "I don't particularly like driving," but he likes sites like City Hall more than parks designed with skaters in mind. "This is kind of more challenging."








Matt Kownacki, 17. Matt has lived in New Jersey his entire life. He started coming to City Hall to skate in September of 2007. His favorite thing about the city: "The skate spots - here and love park are the best." His least favorite thing: "The cops. Not so much here, but when we go other places, yeah."



Dan Pogozelski, 17. Like many of his friends, Dan has lived in New Jersey his whole life. He loves skating in Philadelphia. "The stairs, the rails, Love Park... there are better spots in Philly than in Jersey." Like his pals, though, he doesn't like dealing with the cops.








Jesse Williams, 17. Again, lives in New Jersey. He loves Philadelphia for "the skate spots. I try to go to Love Park and not get arrested." He hates that Philadelphia has outlawed skating in Love Park, and states that as his least favorite thing about the city.








Steve Beck, 16. Steve lives in New Jersey and has for his entire 16 years. Like his friends, he loves the skate opportunities, but mentions that every year he comes down for the light show with his family, and that it's a big part of his experience of Philadelphia. He dislikes "the disrespect." He feels like the attitude in the city has the vibe of "Hey, look at us, we just killed someone. What's next?"






Eric Brooks, 15. Eric has lived in New Jersey since he was two. This is his first time to City Hall to skate. His favorite thing about the city: "all the really nice buildings." His least favorite is "all the traffic and having to get through it."