Jump to content

Street Exhibits in Philly?


sprouty

Recommended Posts

I'm off to Philly for a few days mid-May and was wondering if anyone

had any exhibits they'd like to recommend? I'd prefer something with

a street element to it, but would obviously take a look at anything

else that sounded good.

 

Thanks,

Stephen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SP.....Philly has a number of mass transit options. For around town you have the buses (septa), the PATCO (Deleware River Port Authority), Subways consisting of the Frankfort Market line, and the Broadstreet line (both SEPTA), Trolley (limitted but goes from center city to at least 30th Street), Phlash (tour bus, but best transportation from center city to the Art museum)...........and the Regional Lines, which is what you want to get to Doylestown, the <a href="http://www.septa.org/service/rr_schedules.html"><u>R5</u></a>. The general URL for philly transportation is <a href="http://www.septa.org/"><u>www.septa.org</u></a>. From there you can see all the above i mentioned, either directly thru Septa services or under service and schedules the Connecting Service for PATCO and New Jersey Transit (which if you are so inclined can get you to the Atlantic City Casino's quiet nicely ;o) It's a Train "Atlantic City Train" and goes from 30th street station in Philly directly to AC. You get to 30th street from 8th and Market and/or the Gallery (a shopping mall....yeah, 8th and Market, the mall, and the main Septa train, regional and subways, are all gotten to underground and thre the malll.....weird set up,but cool) at between 10th and 11th and Market street).....it'll make more sense when you see the septa site.....heh<br><br>anyhow between the address (street address) of the Michener, where the R5 drops you off, and Mapquest.....you can easily see that they are about 2 blocks apart.<br><br>The two main gallery districts are the Rittenhouse area and the Olde City area........although both of these, especially when it comes to art galleries, are very fluid in area. Rittenhouse centers around Rittenhouse Square, and Olde City kinda centers around Arch and 2nd atreet. There are other galleries not specifically in those areas....Inliquid.com can help here, but it's not photography related necessarily, but definitely art (of any kind) and definitely the "latest" art.....heh.<br><br>

feel free to email me for any futher help.......or even if you want to go shooting together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent information Thomas, very much appreciated. I'll look into all the subway and trolly options. Funny thing about Philly is that in terms of size it feels similar to Boston but it's a heck of a lot easier to walk around in. Typically I stay in the Rittenhouse square area and walk everywhere from South 21st st to South street all the way east to the water and then north up to Northern Liberties and back again.

 

For anyone who hasn't been it's truly a beautiful city. A remarkably clean and safe city (even at 3:00 in the morning...) Are there any "bad" sections? Doesn't seem like we hit any at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bad sections. yeah, there are quite a few and I think they are quite interesting for street photography. parts of west philadelphia (~50th street) , areas in north philadelphia and some others in south philly can be dangerous for a camera touting stranger. Even for locals driving through.

 

I do not generally bother checking statistics but the overall feel in regions around downtown, old city and University of Pennsylvania campus (early parts of west philadelphia) is that they feel "cleaner" and "safer". Most locals would probably disagree with this statement which comes from the perspective of an ex-student (undergrad and phd in philly).

 

If you are interested in street photography, I do suggest ~52nd and Walnut-Chestnut-Spruce region. Nearby interesting locations include the Malcolm X park and the Paul Robeson house/mural.

 

Anyway, I never lived in another city in USA but I have been in philly for 13 years and I love it. Looking forward to INS allowing me to stay longer here :)

 

Enjoy your stay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"...Are there any "bad" sections?...".....oh yeah.

 

Turgut alluded to North Philly. Kensington, ESPECIALLY West Kensington, generally called "The Badlands" and a section of Germantown Avenue which runs thru this area is probably one of the most notorious areas for crime and drugs. Kensington proper itself is no joy, although it's just a "tough" neighborhood. I use to work with a guy from Kensington, and although you find good people in all neighborhoods, he said the stories you hear are mostly true.

 

West Philly, where Turgut describes, is another area that has "the stories".

 

South Philly, below Washington Avenues, gets a little dicey. The Italian Market is there, and a lot of good places to eat, nice movie houses, etc................so it's fine during the day, and around the "attractions"......but later into night........well......just you can go from an ok neighborhood to the pits in 2 blocks........and then back out again....by the way, that's where Gino's and Pat's Steak is too......so, like I said, it's cool, just be careful....a cab might not be a bad idea if you want to head down there. They do frequent the "attractions"........and get you past the trouble areas quickly.

 

The areas you described where you have walked, SP, are extremely safe, you could even push that area somewhat and still be safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...