Sunday, January 31, 2010

Seventeen at the Independence Mall

It was a cold day yesterday, Saturday January 30, with a high of 21 degrees and a low of 16 degrees, but that didn’t stop people from going outside and visiting Independence Mall. I took portraits of seventeen people that I met out there and ran into some interesting people. I asked each person what they liked and didn't like about Philadelphia to get a sense of how others feel about the city.

This is Heike Heeman from Bavaria, Germany. She came to Philadelphia today with her friend Keri Renault (photograph below). “I like the architecture; not the modern stuff but the old stuff,” Heike said. She didn’t like the “lack of traffic signs.”

This is Keri Renault from Annapolis, Maryland. She arrived here today with Heike Heemann (photograph above). “I like the history; the roots of America,” Keri said. “I don’t like I-76,” she added.
This is Jacob Winters from Manhattan, New York. He came to Philadelphia with is father, Fred Winters (photograph below) for the day. “I like the National Constitution Center and the cheese steaks,” Jacob said. “I don’t like the Phillies [baseball team],” he added.
This is Fred Winters from Manhattan, New York. He came to Philadelphia with his son, Jacob Winters (photograph above) for the day. “I like the scale. It’s a nice small city. It’s very intimate; the streets are small and it’s old and historical,” Fred said. “I haven’t found anything I don’t like yet,” he added.
This is Joana Conklin, who came here from Washington D.C. on Friday with her husband, Chris Conklin. “It’s actually a much more vibrant city than we thought, Joana said. “It’s a little colder than we thought,” she added.
This is Christine Alan from Texas. She arrived here last sunday for a class to prepare her for her job. She said “people [from the class] have been complaining about the roads,” not finding anything she didn’t like in particular. “I like the trees. Believe it or not it’s the tall trees,” she said. “I haven’t seen such tall trees in a long time. It struck me,” Christine said.
This is Travis Lumpkin who is visiting here with his girlfriend, Alex Glass (photograph below), from Washington D.C. Travis and Alex arrived “twenty four hours ago” and have come just to visit. “I like the history of the country here,” Travis said. “I dislike nothing,” he added.
This is Alex Glass who is visiting here with her boyfriend, Travis Lumpkin (photograph above), from Washington D.C. “I like the trip down memory lane about the city,” she notes as she studied sociology here at college. “I like being back in Philly.” She added, “today I don’t like that it’s so cold.”
This is Janita Branch from Miami, Florida. She is here with Brian Peters (photograph below). They both arrived last night. As of now Janita found nothing that she didn’t like. She likes that “everyone's just really friendly” in Philadelphia.
This is Brian Peters from Miami, Florida. He is here with Janita Branch (photograph above). “I dislike the cold,” Brian said. “I like the history,” he added “it makes you feel patriotic being here.”
This is Diana Horten. She came with Titus Wilson, Leon Barber, Kevin Jones and John Johnson. They all live in Rochester, New York and drove in yesterday (a five hour ride) to go watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Philadelphia 76ers. “I like the quality family time and looking at all of this neat and interesting history,” Diana said. She added, “I dislike the traffic.”

This is Leon Barber who is also from Rochester, New York. “I definitely hate the traffic” but “I like all of the building, how they’re all structured.”
This is Tutus Wilson who is also from Rochester, New York. “I like the Philly cheese steaks,” Titus said. He also “didn’t like the traffic.”
This is Kevin Jones, also from Rochester, New York. “I like all of the historical facts,” Kevin said. “The scenery's pretty sweet.” “I don’t like the sixteen dollar buffet for one person,” adding that at the hotel “we thought it was free” until the check came around.
This is John Johnson, also from Rochester, New York. “I don’t like that you can park in the middle of the road.” “It confused me,” John said speaking about the Philadelphia parking patterns. “I like how there’s no snow here, to get my feet wet,” John said.
This is Alex Parsons from New Hampshire. He is visiting Philadelphia with his fiance’, Rebekkah Kerner (photograph below). “I don’t have any strong feelings about Philadelphia,” Alex said. “I did like the Rodin Museum.” He also added "I'm a lawyer and the constitution is a pretty big deal for me.”
This is Rebekkah Kerner from New Hampshire. She is visiting Philadelphia with her fiance’, Alex Parsons (photograph above). Rebekkah said that she “likes the history” of Philadelphia. “I like the old buildings,” Rebekkah said “I like the museums.” Since they recently arrived this weekend, Rebekkah did not find one thing she didn’t like about Philadelphia.

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