A continuation of images for the January 2008 edition of the Philadelphia Grid Project…
Archive for January, 2008
The Philadelphia Grid Project is a long-term project with an attempt to document various areas of Philadelphia…similar to the Portland Grid Project. We set out each month to photographically document a pre-assigned area of Philadelphia in any way we choose. After each month, each photographer chooses one image to add to the archives of the project.
The assigned location for the month of January 2008 was an area of Philadelphia that roughly encompasses Broad Street to 33rd Street on the East and West…and slightly north of Lehigh Avenue and Spring Garden Street on the North and South. This part of the city includes the areas of Brewerytown, Fairmount, Francisville, and Sharswood.
27
Jan
Philadelphia Cathedral
In my previous post about the sand mandala, I wrote about Philadelphia Cathedral where the mandala is being made. The Cathedral is located on the corner of 38th and Chestnut. It was built in 1898 and rebuilt in 1906 after a fire. The original building by Charles W. Burns was a basilica shape, but another renovation in 2002 by architect George Yu sought to remedy the Cathedral’s interior to replicate the layout of a Christian worship place in the 4th century. View more about the history and renovation on their website.
The church is open each weekday and has a Sunday service. The Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia also meets every Sunday at 10am in the Cathedral House and all are welcome. There are also many music and art events that take place at the Cathedral on a regular basis.
Yesterday I ventured out to Philadelphia Cathedral in west Philly with Albert to see Losang Samten work on a mandala, which is a 6-foot circular colorful sand painting that is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist art form. The mandala that Losang is creating is the “Wheel of Life” and represents the universe and many aspects of life. Each mandala has the same concept, but no two mandalas are alike.
He grew up in Tibet where he was a personal attendant to the Dalai Lama. Losang escaped Tibet in 1959, in the same year as the Dalai Lama. Losang introduced the mandala art form to the USA and founded the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia in the late 80s.
I was familiar with mandalas after seeing the movie Kundun (directed by Martin Scorcese) in the theater over 10 years ago and it has remained one of my favorite films. Little did I know that Losang was one of the main actors in the movie, playing the role of himself: the Dalai Lama’s attendant. He also served as a religious advisor and master sand painter in the film.
Here is a photo of me with Losang (in mid-laugh) taken by Albert.
Losang working on the mandala on a raised platform with the entrance to the Cathedral in the background.
Two metal tubes containing colorful grains of sand are rubbed together, releasing only a minimal amount of sand.
This is how much of the mandala has been created so far when we visited yesterday. Losang started the mandala on January 13th. Through January 27, creation of the mandala is open to the public during the hours of 10am-4pm (he takes a lunch break from noon - 1pm). You can also view the creation process of this mandala on the Cathedral’s website. In addition to the mandala creation, there is a photography exhibit of recent photos from Tibet by photographer, Jeff Donovan. The Cathedral itself is also worth checking out.
The creation of the mandala is part of Philadelphia Cathedral’s pilgrimage for peace that runs from January 13 - February 3. There will be a ceremony on February 3 at noon when the mandala will be swept away and returned to nature.
21
Jan
23º
I hate being cold. I probably hate being cold more than almost anything that could possibly be hated. Today it was 23ºF cold. I ventured out with Steve Weinik and Albert for a full-circle photo walk on Passayunk and Oregon Avenues. Although my butt is still frozen, I think it’s cold winter days like this that make us realize that we’re still alive.
20
Jan
bokeh-licious
As stated in Wikipedia:
Bokeh (from the Japanese boke ぼけ, “blur”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.
These images were taken in September 2007 at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum.
16
Jan
inflorescence
As stated in Wikipedia:
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified.
I always find it fascinating when I rediscover some old photos that I’ve never processed. Today I was searching through some photos from my 2005 rafting trip in Utah to find one specific photo…only to discover a whole bunch of photos that I’ve never really looked at after I had taken them. It makes me giddy when that happens. It’s like finding five bucks in the pocket of a pair of jeans that you haven’t worn in a while.
Sorry, I do not know what species of flower this is because I apparently did not document the whole plant nor key it out when I took the photo. Way to go, andipantz. All I can guess is that it’s something in the sunflower family. These were taken in mid-daylight in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
I figured that it was time to step away from the urban decay for a while and provide you with something a little bit more “fresh”, so to speak.
14
Jan
locked and loaded
12
Jan
feeing south philly
Some textures from a walk around south philly…between moore and snyder and 12th and 18th.
