Scene Through the Lens with photographer Tom Gralish.
Shecky Perlman as Ben Franklin, is inside the Free Quaker Meeting House on Independence Mall as he and other historical reenactors receive their diplomas after weeks of intensive, immersive training.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Besides shadows, reflections, silhouettes, pigeons, umbrellas, or hats one of my favorite photo gimmick-clichés is finding juxtapositions. Like catching historic reenactors in moments of chronological inconsistency.
The image of Ben above and George below was made on assignment for an upcoming story on the 21st season of Historic Philadelphia’s Once Upon a Nation program — where costumed actors perform first-person interpretations of real 18th-century Philadelphians in the Historic District and at Valley Forge National Historical Park.
The photo of the actor portraying Franklin was made from outside the Free Quaker Meeting House at 5th and Arch Streets. It was established during the Revolution when a rift occurred among the Society of Friends. As pacifists they would not take up arms, pay war taxes, or take an oath of allegiance. A group calling themselves “Free” Quakers supported the American cause and were expelled or “read out of meeting” by the mainstream Friends.
Among those Free Quakers was Timothy Matlack, a clerk in the Pennsylvania Statehouse known for his excellent penmanship. He was chosen by the Continental Congress to produce the handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence — the engrossed parchment version that we all recognize as the “original” — that was signed by the 56 delegates in August 1776. (Matlack, who was born in Haddonfield, N.J. was also one of the earliest opponents of slavery in America, and he felt that the Quakers were not moving quickly enough to abolish it.)
I only mention the Declaration as, along with many other stories, I have been photographing for in the Historic District and at the President’s House, I’ve been working on a photo essay on some of the direct descendants of the men who were in the room in Independence Hall (then the Pennsylvania State House) as America was born. Their photos, along with interesting and little known facts about the 17 local Signers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware will be published later this week as part of The Inquirer’s coverage of the 250th.
As promised in a previous column, I’ve collected a bunch of my Philly photo-anachronisms from over the years.
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:
June 22, 2026: A downed utility pole serves as a quiet place to eat, away from the crowd at the Odunde Festival, billed as the largest African street market in North America.” Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 15, 2026: Bob Myers, president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, owner/operator of the 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, as well as a future Philadelphia WNBA team, talks to reporters after Mike Gansey made his first appearance as Sixers president of basketball operations at the Penn Medicine Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex in Camden. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 8, 2026: Obet Montalvo, a digital strategist with Radicle Digital, finds a quiet nook at the Convention Center on Thursday June 4, 2026, while attending Netroots Nation, the country’s largest annual gathering for progressive political activists, and organizers. The fan fest is an outgrowth of the blog Daily Kos, and brings together thousands of grassroots organizers to participate in training sessions, panel discussions, and keynote addresses.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 1, 2026: The signature half-rose stained glass window of the 1891 Grace Baptist Church is reflected in a glass wall inside the Temple Performing Arts Center, as a spring concert by Temple University Music Prep’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians gets underway below. A school started at the church so working men unable to afford traditional college could attend at night eventually became Temple University, and the congregation relocated to the suburbs. Over the years the building deteriorated and in 1986 university trustees voted to demolish it. Public outcry and help from the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia convinced Temple’s leaders to preserve the building, and a few years and $30 million later the old church was reborn in 2010 as a 1200-seat, multipurpose state-of-the-art event center. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 25, 2026: A color guard marches in Laurel Hill Cemetery during the annual observance of traditional Decoration Day on Memorial Day weekend. The historic cemetery was the site of Philadelphia’s first observance in 1868, paying tribute to those who lost their lives in the Civil War. What is now known as Memorial Day became a national holiday in 1971. The re-creation is an annual tradition of the Gen. George B. Meade Post No. 1 Grand Army of the Republic and included a wreath-laying ceremony, pageantry, music and speeches. Flowers and flags were placed earlier on the graves of hundreds of known and unknown American veterans from the French and Indian War through the Iraq War.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 25, 2026 (online version): A NASCAR Roadtripping fourth T-shirt ($14.98) - at the closest outpost to Philly - 4-1/2 hours away - of the Texas-based gas station convenience store chain known for its Beaver Nuggets and pristine potties, in Rockingham County, Is Buc-ee’s a true travel destination - or a tourist trap?Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 19, 2026: Robert Arana and Kevin Baraniecki (right) work on replacing the outer protective film on top of the structural safety glass pavilions that serve as the head house entrance to SEPTA’s 15th St/City Hall Station in Dilworth Park.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 11, 2026: At the border of PA and NJ, halfway on the New Hope - Lambertville bridge. It’s a level and well-maintained walkway separated from the cars, making for a safe, short easy walk between the shops and restaurants in both downtowns. With great views of the Delaware River. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 4, 2026: The hooves were all that remained of a life-size elk statue — sawed off at the ankles — in historic Harleigh Cemetery in Camden on Tuesday. The bronze elk statues were put up in cemeteries all over the country at the turn of the 20th century in what was called an “Elks Rest,” an area reserved for deceased members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In many lodges of the fraternal group founded in 1866, members who could not afford a burial were provided space in the “Rest” free of charge. The statue was since recovered and is back in the cemetery’s possession. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
April 27, 2026: What just a week ago was a spring-time canopy of rosy blush blossoms is now a soft carpet of pink petals, on a sidewalk along Wayne Avenue in Germantown.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
April 20, 2026: The water is turned back on in LOVE Park this week, marking another milestone as seasons change in the city. The splash fountain and basin-less main fountain in the park formally known as John F. Kennedy Plaza, was part of the site’s 2018 renovations, that came after the old park was flattened out, removing a traditional fountain and benches and levels that made it so enticing to skateboarders.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
April 13, 2026: Workers set up the stage — with a cooling tower backdrop — for a Gov. Mikie Sherrill event at the PSEG Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lower Alloways Creek, N.J. Sherrill later signed legislation intended to make way for new nuclear energy projects in the Garden State by removing a key permitting hurdle that has created a de facto moratorium on new nuclear power for decades. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
April 6, 2026: Work continues into the night, two floors above street level in Old City.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
March 30, 2026: New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (third from right) meets with members of the South Jersey business community while her youngest daughter, Marit, waits in lobby (rear). Mom was attending a fireside chat event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey in Mount Laurel earlier this month.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
March 23, 2026: The plowed snow mountain range at a corner of the PATCO Haddonfield station parking lot in mid-March. After the big Jan. 25 and Feb. 23 snow storms the transit agency started a contest to guess exactly when the humongous snow mountain will finally melt. They are offering a $20 Freedom Card to the winners.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
