Inquirer staff photographer Tom Gralish’s weekly visual exploration of our region.
Visitors stop at the “Trump House” in Youngstown, Pa Sept. 2, 2020, the day before President Trump's campaign rally in nearby Latrobe. The “shrine” to then candidate Donald Trump was created during the 2016 presidential campaign.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Even though many voters usually don’t even start to pay attention until after the World Series is over,* Labor Day traditionally marks the start of campaign season.
I’ve expressed my fondness for covering politics, especially presidential campaigns, many times in this column, so this homestretch is like the Final Four, Super Bowl or World Series for me, as the nominees hit the trail hard — or at least as hard as COVID-19 permits — for the final two months.
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(* The American and National League champions won’t even start to play each other until Oct. 23, and if the series goes to a seventh game, it will be played on Halloween — three days before the election.)
My other photographic love is hitting the highways on a Road Trip, and I’ve always tried to make one or two every summer. In fact, this online column began as a series of photo blogs written while I set out from the Inquirer building on a different road trip each week (the words survived the archives anyway, even if most of the pictures did not).
A couple of summers ago I hunted down nearby classic kitschy roadside attraction “Muffler Men,” and visited the New Jersey eateries cherished by the late Anthony Bourdain.
Last summer I was in Iowa as the Democratic presidential candidates got to know the voters, and I was in South Carolina for their primary, just before coronavirus changed everything.
So it was great to be back on the road this past week doing stories in Western and Central Pennsylvania for the first of what I hope will be many political stories between now and the end of the World Series/Election Day.
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:
September 7, 2020: Shared airspace above William Penn, atop City Hall.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 31, 2020: A tree trimmer works up high, sawing limbs off a couple trees along Center Street in Haddonfield.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 24, 2020" Naser Berjaoui and Nichole Heffner of Marlboro, N.J. spent the day in Philadelphia, including a visit to the Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest on Penn's Landing, where Berjaoui won a blowup alien prize for ringing the bell with a sledge hammer. The TV screens at a bar on the 200 block of Chestnut Street are tuned to the Phillies and NBA instead of the final night the virtual Democratic National Convention.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 17, 2020: A rabbit passes through the outdoor garden, behind the gate at the Rodin Museum on the Ben Franklin Parkway. At left are the Three Shades (Les Trois Ombres). Following a nearly six-month closure due to the pandemic, the museum plans to reopen to the public on Sept. 6.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 10, 2020: The living room wall in the Point Breeze apartment of Matt Reed, 24. His painting titled "Red Broom" is at right. An untitled work by his father, Jeffrey Reed, a representational painter who teaches at Community College of Philadelphia is at left. Real-life existence of pandemic 2020 is at center.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 3, 2020: Coming off a month that saw temperatures in the 90s for 21 days, we have to wonder whether high wires are cooler for pigeons than sidewalks. These were seen in Grays Ferry last week.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 27, 2020: A neon sign inside a lobby and reflections combine in a rainy image along North Fifth Street in Olde Kensington.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 20, 2020: After-work athletes work out at the Center City District Fit Boot Camp on Dilworth Park, next to City Hall, last week.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 13, 2020: Cars drive through rain puddles along the White Horse Pike in Lindenwold as Tropical Storm Fay passes through on Friday.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 6. 2020: Singer Fabiano "Fabian" Forte is visible on the deteriorating mural "South Philly Musicians" before framing for the construction of 21 mixed residential and commercial units covered it at Ninth and Wharton Streets. The mural by artists Peter Pagast, Brad Carney, and Carlton William was dedicated in 2005 across from Geno's and Pat's Steaks, and featured Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, and others. Mural Arts Philadelphia determined that it could not be restored and retired it in 2015. It was replaced a year later by a new mural, "South Philly Musicians Remix," by Eric Okdeh at 1532 S. Broad St.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
June 29, 2020: Residents enjoy an "adult swim" at Haddon Township's municipal Crystal Lake Pool during New Jersey's second week of coronavirus reopenings. Clockwise from left are Camie Costanzo, 40; Jeraldine Schachte, 70; and Larry Richio, 69.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
June 22, 2020:nThe bronze statue of Bert Parks - Mr. Miss America - in front of the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel. He was the pageant's host from 1955 to 1979, singing the traditional “There she is .” every year after placing the crown on her head.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
June 15, 2020: The pavement on JFK Blvd. still bears the charred marks of a vehicle that was set on fire in front of the Municipal Services Building during protests on May 30.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
June 8, 2020: Philadelphia Highway Patrol Sgt. B. Williams and protester Jamaar Julal carry on a long face-to-face conversation during demonstrations in the city following the death of George Floyd.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
June 1, 2020: Bikers pass shut order windows in the coronavirus-closed Spruce Street Harbor Park on the Delaware River Waterfront.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
