Moving moments and officials on the move

I work Sundays so I’m fortunate I get to document all the parades and festivals that celebrate the varied cultures that make Philadelphia so special. I get to show readers the events where people share their heritage, learn about one another, and come together as a community. There are too many to list.

What the heck; here are some photos. And more here, here, and even here and here. And from the Columbus Day/Italian American Heritage Day Parade & Festival in South Philadelphia a few years ago.

So this past Sunday I was looking forward to covering another. But the remnants of Hurricane Isaias changed that.

I still had to go out in the rain to make weather feature (and cover the parade cancellation) so I stopped at Marconi Plaza and photographed what I found there, as well as in other parts of the city.

Then I remembered in years past photographing the pre-parade mass with the Knights of Columbus at Saint Monica’s in South Philly.

I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe I could photograph parishioners arriving under umbrellas — wearing their Eagles jerseys (the game was already underway).

But there was other news that day, besides the last-second loss in London.

A Philadelphia police officer was killed and another was wounded the day before when a man ambushed them outside his West Philadelphia home.

Going inside the church when the mass began, I watched a uniformed police officer enter and sit in the last pew. I photographed him from behind and when the congregation stood to sing, I approached officer Mike Rafferty, quietly introduced myself and expressed my sorrow for the loss of a colleague. He was fine with the newspaper using his photo.

I doubt Officer Rafferty saw himself as symbolizing the collective mourning of the police and the entire community, but I thought the image of him in uniform in the church that morning represented the duty, sacrifice, and the weight of grief that words cannot always express.

After that, for me, it was a week of politicians, as I covered not just one governor, but two. Plus a U.S. Senator. And since “all politics is local,” I even got to photograph a county commission candidate. That’s his emu — microseconds before it pecked the front element of my 24-70mm lens (it, and I survived. The candidate’s story will publish next week).

On Tuesday Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the Port of Philadelphia to announce the state will invest $371 million there. To get to the event everyone drove past hundreds of imported Hyundais and Kias parked at the edge of the Navy Yard.

Anytime I have flown into nearby Philadelphia International Airport it must have been night or I was on the wrong side of the airplane because I had never noticed the ginormous lot of vehicles in storage waiting to go to dealers.

The state funds will boost the port’s capacity to handle more imported vehicles (as well as container cargo) so I wanted to somehow get the governor in a photo with cars. Besides those in his motorcade.

But it was not to be.

A few days later it was New Jersey Gov. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s turn. She stopped in at Girard College in Philadelphia to give a 10-minute speech, before rushing to catch the Acela to headline a high-profile political event in Washington, D.C.

I didn’t know why she was rushing — and didn’t even notice that she arrived early (how often does THAT happen with elected officials?) for her talk, but I followed behind her security detail as they headed out.

Suddenly I realized she was going out the front door (what elected official does THAT anymore?) And remembered from previous events there that the city skyline was visible from the front steps of the school’s iconic Founder’s Hall. So I immediately thought of making a wide view photo when they got outside.

But that memory must’ve been from winter — or a time before the trees grew tall — as when we went through the door the trees were blocking the view of the city! Had I known — or had more time to react — I might’ve tried to frame the scene with the iconic building’s columns.

Finally, later in the week, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick hosted a discussion at Temple University on government regulation and its effect on business growth.

Unlike the cars-that-weren’t-there Port of Philadelphia event, this had plenty of visuals on hand, in the form of theater lighting and lots of American flags.

Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: