I’m not an official columnist for the Inquirer, but I’ve played one in this space for a couple of decades. I imagine that this allows me to use the crutch of an established columnist: recycling previous works.
Now that the hot, humid and foggy days of summer are over, here are a few things I’ve photographed over the past few months.
Nothing says summer like hitting the road.
The new normal was almost a return to the pro-pandemic version. Like many in the Philly region, I was glad to get out.
In early August, the Cameron County Fair opened in a county with 4,547 residents, the least populous of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. The fair is remote, with relatively low attendance, Y the volunteer fair committee held is happening both summers of the pandemic. They did it again this summer.
Nothing makes a road trip better than stumbling upon some really big and wacky advertising attractions placed on the side of the road to attract tourists.
Maryland drivers are already familiar with the eight-foot chicken I saw outside a Royal Farms store in South Jersey, a chain of convenience stores and gas stations that also serves pressure-cooked fried chicken in the store. Based in Baltimore, it is has been expanding in our region in recent years.
Another chicken made up this trio of roadside attractions I found on the outskirts of Carlisle as summer began. The Central Pennsylvania community was hosting discussions to Pennsylvania Primary Election. Nine candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties debated on consecutive nights in the race to fill the US Senate seat to be vacated by Republican Pat Toomey.
meIt appears that a road trip to Pennsylvania also appeals to President Biden, who recently scheduled three visits to Pennsylvania in one week. I photographed him during this second visit to Independence Hall on Thursday, and he was to appear for the third time in Pittsburgh on Labor Day.)
Former President Trump was also in state, holding a Wilkes-Barre rally for state Republican candidates over the weekend that was covered by my colleague Yong Kim.
It’s exciting to cover presidents, but it’s just as much fun to photograph preparations for their visits, as well as candidates running in local and state elections. Pennsylvania’s races are critical in the national midterm elections, and I expect things to pick up steam as the campaign season traditionally gets underway in late summer.
The county fair wasn’t the only public gathering I photographed. I was with the crowd as Philadelphia celebrated 50 years of Pride, the annual Odunde Festival on South Street, and the Ukrainian community celebrated the 31st anniversary of the country’s independence with folk art, music and dance. And the small towns blocked the downtown streets.
I haven’t photographed the Phillies this summer (the playoffs, anyone?), but I did spend a Sunday afternoon with a baseball team for young adults with disabilities, whose game followed Major League rules.
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
” SEE MORE: Archived Columns Y Twenty years of a photo column