This photo represents a photographer’s milestone, noting the arrival of another season, Mother’s Day, and the annual debut of baby Canada geese. The “only child” gosling seen along the Cooper River in New Jersey also serves as a touchstone.
As the milestones of anniversaries or recurring events come and go, they become touchstones - a point of reference to keep from repeatedly taking the same pictures over and over again. A way to judge the work I do today as a photographer, compared to what I’ve done before (like last year’s goslings photo essay).
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I have been photographing Canada geese for decades. Upon publication of one of my earliest goose portraits I received praise from Canada’s Consulate General in Minneapolis. He said he liked the picture, but my caption called them Canadian geese. He pointed out while Canada would be proud to claim the most easily recognized waterfowl in North America as its own, the hulking honkers belong to ALL of the continent. They are not Canadians.
This time of year also sees the return of regattas to the Schuylkill and Cooper rivers. A decade ago I was able to combine the two in one photo!
(Like the Canada/Canadian faux pas, I’ve never repeated another initial mistake of calling the body of water the Schuylkill RIVER. Thanks to Inquirer copy editors I know that’s redundant. It’s just the Schuylkill, because the name, of Dutch origin, means hidden river.)
And, if anniversaries are milestones, this month in Philadelphia will always be the time we look back at the events of May 13, 1985, when police here dropped a bomb on a neighborhood and the resulting fire killed 11 people. City Council voted last year to formally apologize for the bombing and establish the date as “an annual day of observation, reflection and recommitment.”
Finally, May also means azaleas. They provide the backdrop to a photo I made of fiddleheads - baby ferns - unfurling as they sprung to life at the Awbury Arboretum this past week. The new growth had nothing to do with the story I was there for, but whether we call the changing of the seasons touchstones or milestones, after the chaos of the past year, they serve to remind us that, as Helen Keller said, “Nature has the power to renew and refresh...”
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
May 3; 2021: Old and damaged manhole covers at the Conshohocken wastewater treatment plant.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 26, 2021: Alex Reyes (left) and Tashlee Bolden, both six years old, ride bikes by their grandmother's apartment near "Mechan 11: The Collector" by Tyler FuQua Creations, a 15-foot-tall litter-collecting robot, part of "A New View - Camden," an exhibition of art installations, each specifically designed to raise awareness about unlawful dumping.Read moreTOM GRALISH / TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 19, 2021: Employees in the lobby of a residential building on South Broad Street in Center City watch as protesters walk past, marching during the evening in solidarity with the protests last week after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 12, 2021: A uniquely Philadelphia six-foot social distancing reminder in a uniquely Philadelphia food court. The Bourse on Independence Mall is open for indoor dining at 25% capacity, but not all the vendors in the "artisinal food hall housing a diverse menu of new, local concepts" are serving.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 5, 2021: A "gratitude wall" under the escalators in the former Lord & Taylor store, near what is now the 15-minute post-vaccine observation area at the Burlington County COVID-19 mega vaccination clinic at the Moorestown Mall.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 29, 2021: Flyers fans cheer as the ice crew clears shavings off the ice at the Wells Fargo Center. They do this at least nine times every game - three times during each period, within a two-minute time limit. That's less time than the Phillies grounds crew has to manicure the infield and pitching mound between innings.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 22, 2021: A bicyclist — “Look, Ma, no hands” — has the boardwalk in Ventnor all to himself as the season changes from winter to spring.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 15, 2021: A hill was made years ago when a small fishing pond was created in Millcreek Park in Willingboro. It's a popular for biking, hiking, and sledding.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 8, 2021: Rain falls along East Market Street in Old City as the region has likely seen the end of snow for this winter.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 1, 2021: Bagels are strung under the Reading Viaduct on Spring Garden Street, along with other personal goods and objects.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 22, 2021: The scene outside the SEPTA Olney Transportation Center at Broad Street and Olney Avenue after eight bystanders were injured by gunfire last week.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 15, 2021: Karl Schlobohm plays with his children, Tyler, 4, and Kaitlin, 3, this past week on a Haddonfield Memorial High School athletic field that alone contains more snow than the trace amount that fell on the entire region last winter. So far this year, 19.8 inches have fallen at Philadelphia International AirportRead moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 8, 2021: Snow is plowed into mountains in the parking lot of the Willow Grove Park mall after last week’s 72-hour storm.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 1, 2021: Crossing the Washington Avenue Bridge over Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
January 25, 2021: Low in the winter sky, the setting sun reflects off the glass of Center City skyscrapers through the buildings surrounding Cianfrani Park in Bella Vista.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
