Capturing Cultures Marissa Nicole Pina
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Philadelphia is a city that is known for its diverse and various neighborhoods. Each neighborhood is distinct in its own way and has a magical way of transporting its visitors or residents to another place and
Most people warn me to be careful each time I venture past 10th Street, but I know that people here have a different disposition to them. I enjoy spending my time talking to the people who make their home in an area most people run from. This is the one part time. of snapshooting I did not like. I do not like taking Walking through two separate neighborhoods such as pictures of people without getting an understanding of Kensington and Chinatown, camera in hand, posed an their story. Inevitably I still enjoyed taking photos of interesting challenge. I wanted to capture life the way I the characters who make up Kensington. see it, as someone who is not a resident of either area. Chinatown in itself seems to be a selfI found similarities in two separate areas in the city, organized, self-sustaining community apart from the which most people might glance over. Chinatown and rest of Philadelphia. Walking down Race Street, the Kensington could not be more opposite of each other, minute you hit 10th Street the businesses begin to yet each neighborhood is alive and rich with its own make a notable change, the dynamic of people feels culture. different, and each sign is written in two languages: Kensington, an area most known for being wrought English and Chinese. Photographically, it is a wonder with crime and disparity between its neighbors, is on its own. often overlooked. Most people, even photographers, The culture of Chinatown never ceases to do their best to stay clear of the Avenue and all that captivate me each time I go there. The elegance and comes along with a neighborhood once widely known splendor of the restaurants leave me craving each meal as the Badlands. Yes, there is trash that lines the street offered at every new place. Cooked ducks hang from and graffiti that covers the walls and businesses but if windows. Residents clean the streets in neon vests and you were to look deeper you’d see something beautiful. straw hats typically seen in rice fields. These things There’s an interesting way the light falls onto alone make Chinatown easily beautiful without even Kensington Avenue through the cracks and beams trying. supporting the El. The sunlight skips across sections Being captivated by these cultures is what of the street and is sprayed across different porches, keeps my job as a photographer interesting. There’s steps, and people. On a grey day, the colors of each something about these places that keep me wandering person’s clothes, an empty bottle, even the blue paint through them, camera in hand. I think there’s on the El stand out and pop against the washed out something to be said about taking photos as you are buildings. To me, Kensington is one of the most left astounded by something. We all view the city in a photogenic areas in Philadelphia. different way, and these photos are my Philadelphia.
Above, a man in Chinatown crosses the street preoccupied with his phone. Below, a woman stands on a stoop in Kensington while talking on her phone.
“We all view the city in a different way, and these photos are my Philadelphia.�