ellisson
Well-known
Hi Cal,
Glad that date works for many, and I look forward to meeting up with the group.
I would like to shoot more color images at this visit, but will be prepared for B&W, too. There are areas that I missed on my first visit, so this will be a great opportunity to look again see what ideas emerge. This place has that kind of effect, and I think I was distracted (in a good way) in part by the history of what I was viewing. Not complaining though - I was planning on returning again!
Gary
Glad that date works for many, and I look forward to meeting up with the group.
I would like to shoot more color images at this visit, but will be prepared for B&W, too. There are areas that I missed on my first visit, so this will be a great opportunity to look again see what ideas emerge. This place has that kind of effect, and I think I was distracted (in a good way) in part by the history of what I was viewing. Not complaining though - I was planning on returning again!
Gary
thambar
Shouldn't it be sharper?
I'm fine for the 22nd, and if the weather's decent I can give rides in our '57 Dodge--or a tour of some of the dodgier neighborhoods.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jim,
Glad you can make it. The world is not that big and Philly is only 95 miles away.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Gary,
I'm wondering if we take the 6:50 AM bus and get to 30th Street at 9:00 AM is it wise to go in right when they open at 10:00 AM to avoid crowds and the general public. Also wondering about the best light: morning verses late afternoon.
Somehow we also have to feed ourselves. Not sure of how much time to spend shooting, and how to best divide the limited time. We need to be at 30th Street before 6:00 PM.
Also know that I plan on coming back. I do not want to neglect my friends in Philly, especially since these trips are easy to do. Everyone coming from New York understand that we get dropped off near FIT around 8:30 PM on the trip home. All this for a $30.50 bus ride round trip.
Also is it wise to buy the tickets in advance to save $2.00. Do they limit admission? If you could present any of the culture it would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance.
Cal
JMQ
Well-known
It looks there is a private tour if we can round up 15 or more people. The group rate, per their website is $11. I count 7 of us or so right now, so I suppose if we are willing to pay approx $22 each, we can have a private tour.
The general admission is $14 + a $1.75 surcharge, so that not a great a difference.
The general admission is $14 + a $1.75 surcharge, so that not a great a difference.
kbg32
neo-romanticist
I was once affiliated with an arts group and we had a group exhibition in Eastern State about 20 years ago. We took over a wing and in each cell, each member had as their own to do what they wanted. If was a very neat place to exhibit at the time and the show was reviewed locally.
As far as a system for punishment, the philosophy behind of Eastern State was eventually abandoned as being too cruel. Silence and solitary confinement ruled your days. Many inmates suffered psychological problems because of it.
I would suggest wearing coveralls if you're going to be exploring about inside. It's quite dirty and dusty. Unless they've cleaned it up! I hope not!
As far as a system for punishment, the philosophy behind of Eastern State was eventually abandoned as being too cruel. Silence and solitary confinement ruled your days. Many inmates suffered psychological problems because of it.
I would suggest wearing coveralls if you're going to be exploring about inside. It's quite dirty and dusty. Unless they've cleaned it up! I hope not!
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Keith,
I want and expect "vintage" dirt and dust. LOL.
Cal
I want and expect "vintage" dirt and dust. LOL.
Cal
Gregm61
Well-known
What a timely post. I'll be in Philly for a couple of weeks, beginning this weekend. I need to go check this out. Thanks!
lamefrog
Well-known
Any idea on what type of light to expect? Will we be inside most of the time? I'm looking at Google images and it looks like the tour is a mix of exteriors and interiors. Not sure if the interiors are natural light (thru windows or collapsed roofs) or if artificial lighting is involved.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phillipe,
I did a lot of reading to gain an understanding at EasternState.org. It seems that the single story cell blocks had cells were designed with skylights so "the eye of God" would be upon the inmates. Gary suggests fast lenses, so I'm leaving my medium format gear home.
I don't expect bright interiors. Anyways I imagine some challenges, and when in doubt I tend to go wide. I think a good part of these ruins is still very rough and any restorations are likely to be very limited. For several decades this penitentiary was abandoned, enough that a forest grew like in the old Highline.
I'm not sure if I'm shooting film or my Monochrom or maybe perhaps both which would be kinda new to me since I don't generally mix mediums. Anyways I'm trying to stay loose and flexible as possible without dragging around mucho gear.
BTW about solitary confinement: I once lived in the Santa Fe National Forest in a log cabin 47 miles away from civilization. Basically in this remote mountainous area I had no TV reception, and if I needed gas or food I had to drive 47 miles to Los Alamos.
Anyways the peace and quiet took a lot to get use to, especially for a New Yorker. I found the lack of noise disturbing, and there was little to distract me. I had to leave on a radio to have some background noise because I couldn't stand the peace and quiet. Eventually I was able to be alone, then I began getting startled by my telephone ringing again and again, but every time I ran to answer my phone (landline back then) I just heard a dial tone like a hang-up. It took a while to figure out that I was hallucinating and only imagined that my phone was ringing.
I don't think the mental disturbances that evolved from solitary conefinement were intended by the progressive thinking of the Quakers.
Unlike Henry David Thorough I was truely isolated. Many people don't know that when he lived on Waldon Pond that he was just a brief walk away from his mother's house and that the year he claimed to have lived alone was actual a compressed two years.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
ellisson
Well-known
Cal and everyone,
Arrival time of 9am should let you get coffee and more in the 30th Street station. You may want to take some shots there, too! Like NYC, there is a great diversity of travelers in various states. The architecture in and around the station is interesting.
Getting to the Penitentiary is about a 10 minute ride by car or cab. I'll be driving in to the city that day and will have room for 4 others in my car.
The tour is very good. I did the self-directed tour with the player/earbuds that are available, but i think the a group tour (as suggested by JMQ) may be more efficient money- and time-wise, with more time for shooting after getting an overview. The guides/staff I met were excellent.
One idea would be to do an early group tour, ~45min, then split up for shooting according to interests. Several hours of shooting would still leave time to see and photograph some other parts of the city.
The Art Museum, Water works, and Boathouse Row along the Schuykill River are close to the Eastern State. The Historic area and the Front street/Delaware River area not far apart and a short car/bus ride away. As mentioned by thambar, North and West Philly have some of the rougher neighborhoods. I find these very interesting for many reasons, and was planning to shoot there at some time. This may be of interest to some of the group for documentary work and general interest in some other, less manicured aspects of Philadelphia,
I can look into reserving a group/private tour for 10 am or thereabouts. I'll get back with more details.
Arrival time of 9am should let you get coffee and more in the 30th Street station. You may want to take some shots there, too! Like NYC, there is a great diversity of travelers in various states. The architecture in and around the station is interesting.
Getting to the Penitentiary is about a 10 minute ride by car or cab. I'll be driving in to the city that day and will have room for 4 others in my car.
The tour is very good. I did the self-directed tour with the player/earbuds that are available, but i think the a group tour (as suggested by JMQ) may be more efficient money- and time-wise, with more time for shooting after getting an overview. The guides/staff I met were excellent.
One idea would be to do an early group tour, ~45min, then split up for shooting according to interests. Several hours of shooting would still leave time to see and photograph some other parts of the city.
The Art Museum, Water works, and Boathouse Row along the Schuykill River are close to the Eastern State. The Historic area and the Front street/Delaware River area not far apart and a short car/bus ride away. As mentioned by thambar, North and West Philly have some of the rougher neighborhoods. I find these very interesting for many reasons, and was planning to shoot there at some time. This may be of interest to some of the group for documentary work and general interest in some other, less manicured aspects of Philadelphia,
I can look into reserving a group/private tour for 10 am or thereabouts. I'll get back with more details.
ellisson
Well-known
Lamefrog,
There is natural light within, but not a lot. Each cell has a small skylight, and some of the cell blocks on the second floor have a fair amount of natural light from a large skylight.
Outside there is good natural light for prison yard and Penitentiary architecture shots, e.g., the guard towers, and interesting details. Hopefully, it won't be overcast. I have some examples in my 'Eastern State Penitentiary' gallery at pbase.com/ellisson to give some idea with camera settings.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Gary,
Thanks so much. North and West Philly has its own distinct flavor. I would love to come back and comb the area, but generally I like doing explorations of the rough and tougher neighborhoods in the morning and early afternoon. My experience is in late afternoons near dusk neighborhoods can change rather drastically in a bad way.
At some point I may pay the $200.00 an hour fee to shoot after hours for "Maggie's" blog to use this for a studio fashion shoot.
For me this is basically a scouting expedition. Also know that I am a gentrifier who made banks, developers and landlords mucho money, but I feel that eventually I won't be able to retire in NYC. Philly is on my list.
Cal
Ok, I have to ask Cal, how so?
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I moved into Greenpoint before there were any hipsters. Being an Asian with a ponytail I was not welcomed nor embraced by the Polish immigrant community there and pretty much was unwelcomed there in a rather hostile manner. The rents went up and the people who profited were the banks, landlords and the developers.
Next was Williamsburg. I lived on the Southside where during the day you did not see people on the streets because it was not a safe place, meanwhile on the Northside there were hipsters. I lived in an area that was rather rough and definitely not safe. On one occasion I heard someone empty a magazine on a handgun target practicing, separately on my way to work I saw a shell casing from a 45 on the sidewalk just outside my gate, and if it was after 9:00 PM Maggie would call me and wait for me to meet her at Grand Street and Bedford before entering the no-man's-land known as the Southside. Again my rent went up and the banks, the developers and the landlords made mucho money. I forgot to mention that I only lived a block away from a running sugar refinery which is like living next to a bomb factory. Also the new building next to where I lived was a vacant lot when I lived there, and the excavation and the resulting mice and other disturbances is why we moved yet again.
Next was Long Island City. My neighbor told me that only a few years earlier there were street walkers that would patrol right in front of our houses. Nearby in Queens Plaza the Crips and the Bloods had turf wars over the prostitution there during that time. Rudy G. cleaned all that up, but then again I helped stabilize a foresaken neighborhood and made the banks, landlords and developers lots of money. Even though I was just one stop from Madhttan if I needed a drug store I had to take the subway to Madhattan because there were no CVS or Duane Reades in LIC. I walked with a wagon like a homeless person to do food shopping at Costco in Astoria because the local supermarket was like a glorified bodega. Long Island City was rough because it was kinda uninhabited.
Now I'm in Spanish Harlem...
The real insult is that I pay taxes to take care of the poor, but the problem I have that makes me crazy is subsidizing the wealthy with 421 ten year tax abatements that the wealthy do not need that you should know applies to all the new luxury buildings that are being built that people like you and me can't afford and are priced out.
I'm not counting that I think I'm a bit of a tourist attraction, and one reason why people from all over the world come to New York. The rich people moving in are kinda entitled, rude and boring.
Know that I was also part of this process back in the late 70's when I was making lofts in SoHo livable that were just raw space. It was like camping out.
Like I said over the decades I have made banks, developers and landlords lots of money, but even though I worked hard to redevelope this city I have to ask if I got a raw deal.
Cal
furcafe
Mentor
I've visited ESP on a couple occasions during Philly trips (from DC), most recently last summer, & I'll add a few points:
1. I walk fast, but for normal folks, it's only about a 1/2-hour walk from 30th St. station to ESP.
2. Steve Buscemi is the narrator of the audio tour.
3. If you're looking for a drink before or after, the Bishop's Collar across the street is a nice bar.
1. I walk fast, but for normal folks, it's only about a 1/2-hour walk from 30th St. station to ESP.
2. Steve Buscemi is the narrator of the audio tour.
3. If you're looking for a drink before or after, the Bishop's Collar across the street is a nice bar.
lamefrog
Well-known
@ellison Very helpful, thanks . i assume this means there is little artificial or mixed lighting in the cells and floors during the day .
calzone said:
Thanks Cal . This sounds like a variant of Bentham's panopticon .