The duality of Memorial Day as Inquirer staff photographer Tom Gralish visually explores our region.
May 30, 2022: Nighttime beach-goers take flash photos on the big chair and surfboards, in the dark, just off the boardwalk in Wildwood.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, coming in the years following the Civil War. Congress made the last Monday in May a holiday in 1971 in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees.
It is a somber day for remembrance of those fallen in war and also the unofficial beginning of summer.
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I covered the duality of the day this week, photographing both a public art installation intended to help us remember the men and women who died while serving in the military, and the scene at the Jersey Shore as another summer arrives, following two years of a pandemic.
3,837 red poppies cascade out a second floor window of Haddonfield Memorial High School onto the school's Memorial Grove May 26, 2022. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Volunteers from local community groups, churches, boy and girl scouts, and HMHS students and faculty worked for almost two years to create the flowers.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The dedication of the Project Poppy installation will take place Monday, May 30, 2022. The memorial art will remain next to the school's Veterans Memorial Grove, visible from Kings Highway East, through Independence Day. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The flower became one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict after publication of the poem "In Flanders Fields" by Lt. Col.John McCrae during WWI. The poem referenced red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Millions of people worldwide wear a red poppy on Remembrance Day every November 11th to commemorate the 1918 armistice that ended “The Great War.” Here November 11th is celebrated as Veterans Day, which honors all living veterans.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
In the United States the flower is traditionally worn on Memorial Day. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The poppies cascade out a second floor window near the school’s Veterans Memorial Grove and WWI plaque, dedicated in 1927, "to the memory of Haddonfield residents killed in the World War." Speakers at the ceremony saw education as a force for peace. "If the dream of international peace ever becomes a reality it will be through the medium of education," declared the national chaplain of the American Legion.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Shore stuff for sale in Ocean View.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
On the boardwalk in Ocean City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Jersey Shore parking and bike rental in Ocean City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A boardwalk food court in Ocean City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The beach and Music Pier (rear) in Ocean City.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
(USE AS DESIRED) ( Jersey Shore Atlantic Ocean dunes sand ) On the beach in Ocean City May 22, 2022.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Under the Fishing Pier in Ocean City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A beach ball in Ocean City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The promenade in Sea Isle City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Lucy the Elephant remains under wraps in Margate. The latest restoration of the 1881 National Historic Landmark was supposed to be done by Memorial Day, but the new target date is August.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Downtown Stone Harbor.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A pop up beach tent in Sea Isle City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The promenade in Sea Isle City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Sunset on the bay in Stone Harbor.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
(For Amy Memorial Day Sunday essay about last few summers and what this summer seems to be shaping up as.) Sunset on the beach in Stone Harbor May 22, 2022.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
On the boardwalk in Wildwood.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The Wildwood boardwalk.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The boardwalk in Wildwood.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
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 Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
May 23, 2022: The cheese tray at a Montgomery County political event leading up to Pennsylvania’s primary election last week.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
May 16, 2022: The North Penn High School Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard entering the Montgomery County 2022 High School Enlistee Recognition Ceremony last week. About 30 seniors and their families were feted at the Pinecrest Country Club in Lansdale at the dinner, and similar ones around the country, sponsored by Our Community Salutes, to "recognize our future patriots," and honor the students' "commitment to our country" by planning to enlist into one of the six branches of the U.S. military immediately after graduation.
Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
May 9, 2022: Stephanie Carol carries Mother’s Day balloons to her car in the Haddonfield Acme parking lot last week, with her 3-year-old daughter, Reilly, at her side. She bought the inflatables for her mother.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
May 2, 2022: An audio engineer working during a political forum at the National Constitution Center last month.
Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 25, 2022: Watching the Albert C. Donofrio Classic at the Conshohocken Community Center. NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Kyrie Irving were among the high school boys' basketball players who played previously in the postseason tournament that features the best high school players in the Philadelphia-South Jersey region and elsewhere.
Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 18, 2022: A life-size, picture-perfect advertisement family and not-so perfect technology combine in a display window of a retailer on Market Street East.
Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 11, 2022: The intersection of Broad and Spring Garden Streets, and the new Philadelphia Public Services Building and Police Department Headquarters (rear, right). In the 1990s, Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, with its downtown location, nostalgic ambiance and charming 19th-century warehouse backdrop, began an ultra-urban, retro-themed stadium boom. The Phillies considered a location for their own playground on the corner, before deciding on the site of Citizens Bank Park to replace the dilapidated Veterans Stadium. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
April 4, 2022: An apartment building is visible through the levels of a Center City parking garage. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 28, 2022: A spotlight shines on patrons waiting in the lobby of the Kimmel Center for a Philadelphia Orchestra performance at Verizon Hall. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 21, 2022: The statue of Chief Justice John Marshall has been at the West Entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1931. It was cast from the original 1884 bronze, by sculptor William Wetmore Story, located at the United States Supreme Court. During his more than three decades on the court, Marshall helped increase the power and prestige of the federal court system.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 14, 2022: Deciduous tree limbs and branches are bare against the apartment buildings surrounding Rittenhouse Square in March. The spring equinox will arrive on Sunday at 11:33 a.m. Philadelphia time. Budding, blooming, and blossoming won't be far behind.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
March 7, 2022: A wet day on South Broad Street. The aluminum and stainless steel gates were installed in 2015 at all four City Hall portals, based on preliminary sketches - never completed - by architect John McArthur Jr. as he designed City Hall 150 years ago. They replaced the chain-link fencing that had been around since the 1980s when restoration began on City Hall Tower.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 28, 2022: The Delaware County Courthouse in Media is reflected in a solar panel atop one of the borough’s on-street parking kiosks along Front Street. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 21, 2022: University of Pennsylvania fencing team foil members Bryce Louie (left) and Katina Proestakis Ortiz practice at Penn's Tse Ping-Cheng Cheung Ling Sports Center. Penn fencers will make their final appearance before the March NCAA tournament at the Temple Invitational on Feb. 27.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
February 14, 2022: Members of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig Club and the Bloomers musical comedy troupes wait to perform - wearing Gutmann wigs - during a goodbye event for Penn president Amy Gutmann, who will soon leave for Berlin to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Germany.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
