As a newspaper photographer, my most common subject matter is people. Meeting new and interesting people every day, putting them at ease for the camera, and capturing the experiences and nuances of their lives to share with our readers is the best part of my job.
Sometimes though, it's also challenging to just step back a bit and and tell a story about inanimate objects. Things like restaurant food, environmental closeups, nature and scenic views and even real estate.
These photos give me a chance to appreciate those most important considerations of photography by looking at the light and composition, and just like with people, try to convey something in an interesting, even artistic way. Like a painter doing still lifes of baskets of fruit or flowers in a vase.
You can put architectural details in that category too.
Last week I photographed the ongoing demolition of Chestnut Street's 1928 Art Deco movie palace, the Boyd Theater. The preservation group,
» READ MORE: Friends of the Boyd
has waged a 13-year battle to save the city's lone survivor of Hollywood's golden age, and their president, Howard Haas, contacted me (and everyone else in the media who could spread his word) a few weeks ago.
He and others have been working for decades to save the Boyd - and last year the
» READ MORE: Historical Commission
granted previous owner Live Nation permission to raze the historically designated theater on the grounds that the building had become a financial hardship. The owners and developers signed an agreement with the Friends of the Boyd, and the
» READ MORE: Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
, to protect the Chestnut Street exterior, the foyer, and the lobby, and this March the cranes moved in.
When the exterior walls came down exposing the lavish ornate auditorium, Hass emailed me again, suggesting I take a look at it again. So I visited, when I had a chance between other assignments, but the light wasn't right. I went back again the other day and tried to capture elements that would soon be gone. I used a 300mm f2.8 telephoto lens, with a 1.4 converter (making it the equivalent of a 420mm) to try to show readers details they couldn't easily see with their naked eye (or capture with their iPhone) when standing where I did on Samsom Street and a parking lot on 20th Street. There is a gallery with more of my photos
» READ MORE: here
.
As Inquirer Architecture Critic Inga Saffron
» READ MORE: reported
last week, the owner plans to turn the site into a 27-story apartment tower. The Historical Commission meets Tomorrow, May 26, to review the design, including the replacement of the Boyd's foyer by a loading dock, which preservationists thought would be saved.