I am absolutely flabbergasted to see these scans in my inbox so quickly. Thank you @uniquephoto for super quick turnaround!
I dropped my rolls off on my last morning in Philly (on Monday!) so that I didn’t have to deal with airport security; this is the Kodak Color Plus 200 I’d brought with me, with shots from my first morning there (on Friday). I’m posting them unedited, as scanned, in celebration of this stellar service.
(Also, pssst.. dev/scanning 3 rolls is cheaper in Philly than Seattle…)
I very quickly realized that one roll was not going to cut it, so I bought a 3-pack of Ultramax at a different store. But if I’d held out for a little longer, I’d have found Unique Photo that afternoon and bought the same pack for like $10 cheaper. Next time! Next time.
There are a lot of churches in Philly. Here’s a handful I saw on my first day.
I had very low expectations for these shots, since I only had a roll of ISO 200 at the time, so I’m very glad that this one in particular came out. Thank God for flash photography.
My first breakfast in Philly. I could not finish it.
Philly’s Chinatown was nearly torn apart when the Vine Street Expressway was built, cutting through the neighborhood with plans that originally threatened Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic Church, among many other homes and businesses. But the community fought back. Now there’s talk of “stitching back” the neighborhood by lidding the highway.
By only bringing a 35mm camera with me on this trip (not counting my phone), I forced myself to have more fun with the kinds of scenes I captured on film. The only self-imposed rule I followed was sticking to landscapes for film and verticals for digital. I think it activated an “abundance mentality” that I really needed that weekend.
I saw every quality of light during my stay, which really made the relatively small area I was in come to life in different ways on different days. The dramatic changed is weather, though, I could have done without. I was staying right in the heart of the most historic part of Philly, but I still had no patience for lining up to see the Liberty Bell. Swipe to see some other bell instead. Content warning: the last slide contains imagery that may produce temporary emotional distress. Viewer discretion is advised.
The first shot is the moment when the sun broke through on my first morning as I was on my way to buy more rolls of film. The sun would continue to beat down mercilessly until check-in time finally offered a much-needed shower.
There were several times on this trip when I found myself thinking: “this feels like a movie,” and most of that didn’t even make it on film.
Like when I had my first authentic cheesesteak and ended up sitting next to a table of nonnos and nonnas conversing animatedly in actual Italian, which was absolutely delightful, but that’s not all — as I tossed my wrapper into the compost bin, the deli owner asked me “how was your sandwich babe?” with that East Coast swagger that’s just *chef’s kiss* — I’m a sucker for good scenography.
I could not believe how this guy deliberately walked into my shot, but I got the last laugh, because now he’s part of my “aesthetic.”
Swipe to see what had grabbed my attention. Also: is it me or is this horse cop smoking a blunt?
These tiny tykes are obviously adorable, but I only reached for my camera when I heard them collectively pointing and yelling “la policía! la policía!” like real comrades.
Swipe to see what they were sounding alarm bells about, as seen from my temporary lodging.
I just happened to be staying right next to the U.S. Custom House i.e. Philly’s Customs and Border Protection office, which isn’t exactly ICE, but is close enough. They’re both part of the Department of Homeland Security, with the CBP focusing on preventing illegal entry at the borders and in the area near the border, while ICE enforces immigration laws within the interior of the country.
This is a protest that happens there every Friday, like those at Tesla over here. Standing here over a week ago, I didn’t anticipate what’s happening in LA right now. “Shebeh intifada,” is how I described it to my mom.
This is Christ Church Burial Ground where Benjamin Franklin is laid to rest. I’m not sure why people toss coins on it. Maybe it’s because he’s thought to have coined (ha!) the phrase “a penny saved is a penny earned”?
I dropped off my roll that had the frames I took in Jersey yesterday. Here’s this on the banks of the Delaware in the meantime. That’s the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which carries the PATCO train in and out Camden, NJ.
I’ve had several people ask me how I found Philly and I keep saying the same thing: it was surprisingly delightful. I didn’t arrive there in the best of moods, so I’d like to think it was the city itself that sparked something. Not because it was all fun and games; it just had an energizing resonance to it, even in its moments of disfunction and discomfort.
This is the last of the rolls developed and scanned in Philly. Now to see how fast the turnaround is here in Seattle for the handful of shots I had left (spoiler: it will not be as quick).