People of Philadelphia by NICOLE S PLAKSEN

This book is dedicated to the eccentric, fascinating, diverse people of Philadelphia. Thanks for being you, Philly.

Introduction

Welcome to People of Philadelphia, a project designed to expose the amazingly vast array of walk of life that people experience in a Metropolis. In this book, I interviewed 22 people, with the primary goal of exacerbating the outstanding variety of personalities that live in the city of Philadelphia, a place that I have explored, admired and created memories in since I was a kid. The methodology I used to decide on who to interview was planned, yet organized, chaos – I approached some people that stood out at first glance, some that seemed like your “average Joe” by society’s standards, and also children and introverts who were a little more challenging to get a cross section of personality from. The open ended questions asked to all of these people were based on how my casual conversations began with them, but were always directed at finding out something a little unique about them. These tidbits of info 8

given for each Philadelphian are concise enough to entice readers of all levels, and contain emotions that vary just as much as these peoples’ personalities. Just like all walks are contained in the book, it creates an appeal to all types of readers for that same reason. This book was inspired by Brandon Stanton, the photographer who created the blog, book and website called “Humans of New York.” I was intrigued by his Instagram, which is updated almost daily with new members of the colorful city of New York, and receives attention beyond the social media of most celebrities. The latter fact made me realize there must be something infectious about this type of production in a big way socially, because I was surely not the only one waiting for the next Humans of NY bio to come out. As I continued to read these for a few months, the idea of spreading this to the city that has a special place in my heart seemed like a perfect way to

portfolio, but also to show some pride for Philadelphia. Although the quotes given at times may seem arbitrary, the premise of this type of project is to leave the door open for the interviewee to lead the conversation, so I could capture their essence as a person. I was not looking for all intellectual comments, or sad stories; I was looking to stretch to every extreme of emotion, intellectuality, and personality. A strength of mine as a journalist that allowed me to push past the first 5 or 6 interviews is my ability to ask people questions that others might consider prying; I can keep a cool emotional state and not seem shocked, appalled, or humored by what

emotional state and not seem shocked, appalled, or humored by what could be a sensitive topic for the interviewee. In addition people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to be threatened by me as I have heard from some others in my field of study who have tried to conduct interviews with general public; this definitely has worked to my advantage in terms of effective interviewing.

City Hall Concourse:

“It’s an on-going search, keep on searchin’ for the truth.”

Etta’s Baby Boy, 65 11

Ricky Cummons, 29 12

13th & Locust: “So, I was walking down the street and the button broke to my pants. My boyfriend and me were down here, he was taking me shopping - all of my belongings were in the car, mind you because we had his credit card... anyway, my pants break so I’m a little exposed here and he thinks I’m being provocative, so he leaves me stranded down here in Center City. Do you believe it? Now what? And I have work at 7 o’clock.”

“That’s messed up.” “Horrible... boyfriends, they suck. What did I want in this gay life? Are ya serious?” 13

Liberty Bell Park:

“Should I say cheese?”

“Sure.” “Hamburger!”

Bill Harvey, 58 15

D. A. P. (aka Danny), 26

15th & 16th Patco train station:

“I have a lot of power.”

“What kind of power?” “God has granted me the gift of electricity. I can harness electricity. I can harness negative energy... I can cleanse myself. There’s a lot of power going on here, a lot of energy. The lights... There’s a lot of energy. Energy from the lights... from the signs... My power is so strong.... YAH!” 17

South Street, Wooden Shoe Anarchist’s Bookstore:

“Anarchism its more about instead of a democracy in the way that it’s like stairs basically, its more of a horizontal platform. Everything is equal and it all goes through a consensus. So if there’s a group of people, they all get a say in it and they all come to an agreement with what they want to do.”

“Do you consider yourself an anarchist?” “Not fully, I’m kind of still learning so I’m like an anarchist intern.” 18

Brielle Meyerson, 21 19

Curtis, Under 25

Independence Hall: “What got you into the opera genre of music?” “I suppose I would say that I have respect for something that’s been around for that long... and the same way I have respect for Classical music for almost the same reasons. That hasn’t really changed for a really long time. It’s weird to hear something and think ‘oh this at some point in somebody’s life, this may have been the only piece of music [they’ve ever listened to]. There’s a lot of church overtones and things like that but still, it’s interesting.”

“Are you religious?” “Nooo.” 21

Curtis joined me on my journey... Market Street:

“You wanna know why I’m homeless?”

“Why are you homeless?” “I’m homeless because the roof of my house fell in on me and my partner.”

“So, where do you sleep?” “Right here.” 22

Joe McGraw, 47

Market Street: “I’m trying to work with little kids and I really like the idea of dance therapy to help people. Through music, through dance and through movmentment, you can truly express yourself. Music can change how you see things and I think there’s something deeper in music when listening to it, especially when it’s the right song.” 24

Lana Colquhoun, 19 25

Unknown

Market Street:

“Excuse me sir, could I take your photo and ask you a couple questions for a school project?” (No response) ...So I did it anyway.

South Street, Repo Records:

“I love those moments in music when you’re really sort of energized by it... like I was listening to Black Sabbath the other day and I just thought ‘Man, this is so heavy and it just rocks so hard’ and I just got such a huge kick out of it. My girlfriend was sittting next to me and she was experiencing it in a totally different way and she just said ‘I mean yeah it’s a good song.’ I was just like, noo... I just wanted to get up and move arond. And I think that’s something everybody experiences with their own favorite music and I think that’s an important thing. I think it’s important to have something that can excite you in that way... and that’s just audio!” 28

Jozef Oldakowski, 27 29

Anihya Hines, 11 30

Today in Microfashion... South Street, Pennâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landing:

Aniyah is sporting a tutu designed by the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Place. Her favorite item of clothing to wear is skinny jeans, however. While most model their style after some form of inspiration, Aniyah does not have an inspiration for her style, making her outerwear one of a kind! 31

Downey’s Bar, South Street:

“You’re like a psychiatrist, but you don’t get paid.”

Francesca Martorano, 34 33

Kevin Lopez, 22 34

South Street, Condom Kingdom: “What is the most interesting part about working at Condom Kingdom?” “Some people are so uncomfortable with what they’re doing. At the end of the day we’re just selling products. Everybody has sex. Everybody has a sex drive. I don’t think it’s anything anyone should be too embarrassed about. You know, there’s a certain level of discretion that people like to keep up with but some people are just so crazy freaked out and embarassed they’re just like, ‘get it in the bag, I gotta get outta here!’ And I’m just like, ‘you’re buying it soooo....’ ”

“Do you have any regular customers? What do they buy?” “Oh yeah, we have this one guy who comes in and buys this certain brand of male enhancement pills called ‘Stiff Nights and he’ll come in and just clean us out... like, he buys ALL of them.” 35

South Street, Repo Records:

“I’ve had this mustache since 1975.”

Warren Holtzman, 61 37

Downey’s Bar, South Street:

Joey Sullivan, 53

“I make a hundred and a quarter an hour. They open the door, fucking pay me.”

“Doing what?” “I fix office equipment. Well basically I do nothin’ but I still make $125 an hour. After 10 minutes I’m walkin’ out the fuckin’ door. Only guy faster than me is the UPS guy.” 39

Downey’s Bar, South Street: “I’ve owned this bar for the last 11 years and uh, I’ve found Irish people don’t want to eat much, but they want to drink a lot. Meanwhile, Italian people want to eat more than they want to drink.”

“What’s your favorite part about owning this bar?” “Meeting people... especially the interesting characters that come through. Joey Sullivan being number 1.”

“What’s your favorite part about being a chef?” “Being able to make people happy. Giving somebody something that you made and seeing how happy that makes them. Somebody can’t even make people happy if they try, so being a chef makes you able to... if you’re a good one, if you’re a bad one, you make people mad.” 40

Domenic Centofanti, 47 41

Eboni Jones, 27 42

South Street, Penn’s Landing: “What is the most difficult part about working with mentally challeneged children?” “When the diagnosis gets worse and new behaviors start. I find that extremely difficult because you don’t know how to deal with that new behavior.”

“What is the most rewarding part about working with them?” “All the gratification we get from the parents, all the gratification we get from the hospital on how take care of them.”

Temple University, The Sac:

“What is the most interesting question you got while working at the Information Desk?”

“I got asked if you could be any kind of cookie what kind would it be? And I said sugar cookie because I’m sweet.” 44

Pooja Shah, 19 45

Zac Yelson, 22 46

Temple University, The Sac:

“What’s the most difficult part about being a philadelphia sports fan?” “Every Philadelphia sports team breaks your heart at some point.”

Patco train: “If you could give your past self one piece of advice, what would it be?” “I would tell myself to go to church more.”

“Why?” “As I’ve gotten older, I had a lot of misfortunes when I was young and if I would have gotten God into my understanding, I don’t think I would have had those misfortunes. I truly believe that today. I have found out that God has shown me favor while I was going through the problems and troubles I have been through. I’m not afraid to say that I was a drug addict. I haven’t had a drug or a drink in 21 years. If I had gotten into God and his graces 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have had that problem, that one problem.” 48

Daniel Sconiers, 59 49

Brandon Franklin, 21 50

Temple University, Alter Hall:

“I consistently consider what defines intelligence based on my choices. People and testing claim I’m smart, but honestly I do some real dumb shit. I’ve come to the conclusion after years of thought and open conversation that my mind is definitely not high powered, but it works just as hard at the right or wrong direction; controlling my habits and contridictory mindsets is a key goal at this stage in my life.” 51

Patco train:

“Always take in what benefits you. Otherwise, if it don’t benefit you, you don’t need it. Stay focused on what you want to do, not what anybody else wants to do. It’s not about nobody else now, it’s about you right now.”

Theron Burroughs, 54 53

About The Author Nickee Plaksen is a photographer, writer, traveler, student and lover of all things in the name of art. Street photography is her style of choice, but when it comes down to it, she can find beauty in just about anything. Her camera is her tool, the world is her subject. She is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey and is currently attending Temple University.

Special Thanks To Well, to the amazing, wonderful, fascinating, crazy, interesting people of the great city of Brotherly Love. I would also like to give a shout out to my amazing classmates who truly inspire me with every piece of work they produce. Without the support from my parents and my brothers, I would not be able to produce this book, a piece of work that I spent hours and hours on end creating. Lastly, to Dr. Trayes, the man of the hour, the man who taught us all to be the aspiring photojournalists that we are today. Without him, we would not be where we are today.

Nickee Plaksen 56