Philadelphia A to Z

My theme for this assignment was "the essence of Philadelphia." This might sound a little vague, but essentially, I wanted to try to capture the character of the city. Therefore, all of my letters had to stand for things that indicated a particular personality trait/quirk of the city. Thus, "B" for Ben Franklin or "Z" for Zoo wouldn't work for my theme, because they don't say anything about Philadelphia personified.

In an attempt to keep these stylistically similar, I took all of them with a wide-angle lens at or close to the widest angle possible, I kept them all horizontal and kept all of them in color. If people were in the shots they were not the focus, rather, the surrounding environment was.

A is for "Abandoned Properties"
Okay, so this one was relatively predictable. Unfortunately, my other "A" slide was the only vertical in the collection, so this one made the last-minute cut. Shown below is a property at 5315 Osage Avenue, that, like so many others in the city, has fallen into a state of utter disrepair.




B is for "Bourgeois Boutiques"
...And Philadelphia has plenty of 'em. Below are just a few of the upscale stores that populate Main Street in Manayunk.




C is for "Corporate Strip Malls"
Though you won't find these in the city center, strip malls (and the chain stores that fill them) populate the inner perimeter of the city. Below is the store we love to hate, located in a strip mall off of Roosevelt Blvd. in the Northeast section of the city.



D is for "Drinking as a Favorite Pastime" (at least for the younger crowd)
If you're between the ages of 21 and 30 in Philadelphia, chances are that your way of letting loose with your friends is by hitting a local bar. The bar scene in Philadelphia is a huge part of the social life in the city. Here, a group of friends bring their party with them the morning after a big birthday bash.




E is for "Elegant Vistas"
It doesn't matter from which direction you choose to view City Hall, any view makes for a beautiful sight. Here it is viewed from Logan Circle, just off of the Ben Franklin Parkway.




F is for "Forgotten Hiking Trails"
I've never seen anyone back here. Believe it or not, this is still within city limits. In Cobbs Creek Park, you'll find miles of hiking trails that run throughout the woods and alongside Cobbs Creek itself. It's beautiful. No one seems to remember that it's here.




G is for "Garbage-littered streets"
If we want to tell the truth, we have to admit that it gets pretty dirty here. Below is an image of the garbage that seems impossible to keep off the city sidewalks (more public trash cans, perhaps?) on 53rd street just north of Osage Ave.




H is for "Historic Art and Architecture"
The two join together here for a gorgeous display at the entrance of the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia.



I is for "Ignoring our Homeless"
As sensitive as Philadelphia residents might want to think they are, the majority of the city's residents turn the other cheek when passing the many homeless residents on the street. Pictured below is a statue with its back to evidence of the city's homeless, on the back of the Philadelphia Human Services building along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.



J is for "Jungle-Gym Artwork"
What better way to spend a warm winter day than climbing on the river gods in a currently-dry Swann Memorial Fountain at Logan Circle?





K is for "Killings and Killings and Killings..."
In 2007, there were 406 murders in the city of Philadelphia. Pictured below is a memorial at 52nd and Larchwood for one of last year's victims, Christopher Freeny, who was shot to death for speaking to the gunman's girlfriend on the street.




L is for "Landmarks that don't make sense"
Now, I'm all for public art, but I do like it to be... well, art. Here we have... a pretzel... marking what is now called "Pretzel Park" in Manayunk.



M is for "Murals Galore"
Philadelphia is famous for its murals. Tourists come over from Europe specifically to go on mural-tours. Would you believe there are some cities - here in the U.S. - where it's illegal to put artwork on public walls? This brand-new mural is located on Pine street, just west of 52nd street.



N is for "Neighbors who don't salt their sidewalks"
Maybe in Center City they keep their sidewalks passable, but the farther out you go, the less likely the residents seem to care. This was shot on my block at 53rd and Osage, where only 4 or 5 of the residents remove the ice and snow from their sidewalks.





O is for "Open-Air Markets"
From the Italian Market to 52nd Street to weekly Farmer's Markets, these open air markets add an earthiness to Philadelphia's shopping options. Below, Rosalio Corona gives a customer change in front of Esposito's at 9th and Catherine.



P is for "Pesky Parking Restrictions"
We've all seen them. They're everywhere. This particular image is shot close to the intersection of 22nd and the Ben Franklin Pkwy.




Q is for "Quirky Weather Patterns"
I went to Kelly Drive on a particularly warm day (Monday) to shoot "quiet spaces" for "Q", but as I was there, I noticed dark clouds quickly advancing upon me. I shot a few quick frames of this rower keeping ahead of the dark clouds, and seconds later the skies were dark and a cold front had hit the city and the temperature had dropped significantly. I thought back to all the strange weather we seem to get and decided this would be my new Q.




R is for "Reflective Architecture"
Philadelphia is going through a reflective architecture phase, where all of the new high-rise buildings going up are super-shiny. Here we have the Cira Center, located just behind 30th Street Station, but one could just as easily have photographed the Comcast tower or the Murano building in Center City.



S is for "Stinky Steam Vents"
Do all cities' steam vents emit so much steam? This particular vent is located just south of 20th and Chestnut Streets.




T is for "Tree-lined Walkways"
Philadelphia has its share of lovely, tree-lined streets and walkways. This particular one runs alongside the north side of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.




U is for "Urban Sprawl"
Northeast Philadelphia: it just keeps going and going and going. This image is shot from the intersection of Devereaux and Farnsworth in what is fondly referred to as "the Northeast."



V is for "Vibrant Community Spaces"
It doesn't take a park to encourage Philadelphians to just hang out. Families enjoy unseasonably warm weather for February by spreading out on the steps of the Franklin Institute.





W is for "Wayward Seagulls"
Does it matter that seagulls belong by the sea? Not to Philly's gull population. These determined birds can be found populating shopping center parking lots all across the city. Here they're pictured in the shopping complex at 22nd and Oregon.




X is for "Xpletives, expletives everywhere!"
It doesn't seem to matter where you are, Philly's more rebellious residents love to scrawl the F-bomb wherever it might have impact. Here it graces the playground equipment at Malcom X park located at 52nd and Pine in West Philadelphia. (Click on the image to enlarge).




Y is for "Yearning for Yesteryear's famous"
Eric Bazilian's star sits alongside greats such as Patti Labelle, Dick Clark, John Coltrane, Peter Nero, and Grover Washington on the Walk of Fame along the Avenue of the Arts on Broad Street. This is strictly my opinion, but I'd say Philadelphia longs for some new greats to bring back some of the prestige of its musical past.




Z is for "Zoning Violations"
Cousin Danny's Exotic Haven at 52nd and Spruce violates not one zoning restriction, but four. It is two doors down from a church, across the street from a school, adjacent to a playground and within a stone's throw of multiple residential areas.