Words and Light

Getting to travel and explore with fellow photographers is great, because a) you’re going to get better images because you’re all trying to outdo each other and b) nobody can/will/should get fed up with you if you want to linger someplace for “just a few more minutes” or pull over on the side of the road to make pictures.

By the same token, getting to travel and explore with a good, old friend is great because she knows you carry your camera (and a few lenses) and will put up with your shenanigans.

Emily, the friend whom I visited in Philadelphia earlier this month, is such a friend. We met when I was a prospective new student at St. John’s, and have been friends since our freshman year there. And she’s been putting up with my love of photography for almost that long.

For example, we were walking west on Walnut Street when all of a sudden I saw a really spectacular building to our right.

Philadelphia City Hall.

“Emily, what building is that? It’s gorgeous!”

A man to our left answered me: “That building is City Hall. It’s City Hall.”

Emily: “Do you want to cross the street and stand on the median to take pictures?”

Ding-ding-ding, hell yes, I do.

So we did just that. And then I turned 180 degrees and made another picture.

Facing south from the intersection of Walnut Street and South Broad Street in Philadelphia.

Then we continued on our way, back to the UPenn campus (where Emily is in her last year), and I made a few more pictures. And Emily was still patient with me.

College Hall on the UPenn campus.

College Hall on the UPenn campus.

Thanks for a really great 27 hours in Philadelphia, Emily!

(Previous Philadelphia posts: The food, the colors and the water.)