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30th Street Station

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Florentin Juillet

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……….This series was inspired by a feeling of nostalgia. One photo sowed the seeds of my approach: a photograph of the French Alps, taken from a summit by the German photographer Michael Schnabel, in the middle of the night. To create a landscape with an extreme absence of light, he exposed the film for a prolonged exposure time for about an hour. The result was a dark, extremely cold photo displaying all of the range of grays that could possibly come to mind. The stillness of the mountains made the photos really sharp, except for the clouds that left lighter marks in the sky. At first, I could not say exactly what moved me most about the photo. Was it the cold aesthetics? The method used to take the shot?

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Apartment Tower

I soon found out what feeling it was: nostalgia. These photographs reminded me of the cold air of the Alps, the silence of the upper slopes when I used to go skiing with my family, reminded me of how it felt to be back home in France. This feeling was reinforced by the aesthetics of the picture – it reminded me of a dream, something surrealistic.

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Reflections

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These images were created during a special period for me; as I am about to leave the place where I have been living for a year, a feeling of nostalgia slowly emerges. Influenced by this feeling created by the night shot of the Alps, I tried to capture views of Philadelphia in the same way: night photos with really long exposure times of places I know by heart, with the goal to see them differently, and anticipate the way I might dream about those places in the years to come.

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Street Lights

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One of the main purposes of photography is to create memory, to find again an exact view we had back in time. By creating these kinds of pictures, slightly different from what my eyes are used to seeing, compelled me to create a variation of what I would have normally remembered. Is that cheating, lying? No: memory is exactly the truth anyway, it is always distorted by subjectivity and the mindset we had at the time, for the place remembered. I just wanted to shape my memories as I would like to remember them.

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Self-Portrait 2012

About The Author: Florentin Juillet is a junior enrolled in the College at the University of Pennsylvania as a foreign exchange student.

Photo: Santiago Peredo

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Santiago Peredo

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……….For this series of pictures I decided to explore the world of public transportation and its importance in our daily lives. In today’s world, public transportation plays a vital role in society; people need to move from one place to another as fast and efficiently as possible. Without an efficient and well-planned system, the functioning of an entire city could be jeopardized.

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Photo: Santiago Peredo

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From a simple taxicab to an entire subway system, these pieces of machinery have to withstand wear without taking a day off. Some have to withstand 16 hours of service per day, regardless of the weather conditions without breaking.

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Photo: Santiago Peredo

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Some might be able to take you to the specific location that you need to go, while others can carry thousands of people at the same time.
Some have been in service only for a couple of months, while others might have traveled thousands of miles. The only common thing is that they are there to help make our lives easier by providing a needed service at an affordable cost.

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Photo: Santiago Peredo

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Photo: Santiago Peredo

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In these series, I tried to capture motion by using a slow shutter speed in a few of the pictures. By doing so, I was able to show these vehicles as they are intended to be seen, which is in a constant state of movement.

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Photo: Santiago Peredo

About The Author:Santiago Peredo is enrolled in the MBA program: Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Photo: Chen Fu 2012

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Chen Fu

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……….Many times I look back to those days and events which have shaped my life most, I see farewells. Born and raised in a very small city in China, I was educated to study hard to struggle my way out of it. So my life was always saying goodbye to those people around me, saying goodbye to my parents, to the girl I love, to my cousin, and to go further and further against the way home.

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Photo: Chen Fu 2012

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The first time was 200 miles from hometown when I was 15. Then 680 miles towards Shanghai, the city never sleeps. Then after 4 years, it was 5000 miles to Romania – where I was even dreaming of becoming a vampire, and finally now here in America, 12000 miles away from home. I heard America is the land of freedom and dreams since I was a little kid. Over the years, I have learned to never look back to those seeing me off when I was walking into the security zones at airports, because I knew anyway I had to leave. All these years I have gotten used to calling home only once a week or month, because I know living with the most important people to me was just not my life. When Google Map told me to kayak across the Pacific Ocean to get back home, I somehow learned that farewells to those I love – had already become a part of my life.

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Photo: Chen Fu

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So recently I decided to walk to University City Station (Penn stop) and take the train to the airport, as many times as I have done with my girlfriend. Those buildings and scenes along the road were always reminders to me – that my time with her was getting shorter and shorter: empty archways; green bicycle lanes; Septa signs, and rusted tracks. What are in those people’s minds? Are they seeing someone off like I did? They are smiling just like I was, but was that also as untrue as mine? I cannot stop wondering.

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Photo: Chen Fu

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What I discovered a bit surprising was that I didn’t see hugs, cries, kisses and tears. Maybe it was just not necessary because they were actually traveling together, or they could be like me, getting used to farewells. I suddenly found that sunshine in the airport was actually quite nice, and I was again standing outside of security. It’s just this time I was all alone.

About The Author: Chen Fu is enrolled in the Master of Architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania. May 2012

Summer Palace Reflection

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Karl Gerchow

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……….My trip recently to China provided an opportunity to explore two cities – Shanghai and Beijing – largely through the lens of my camera. I specifically wanted to observe and capture images and scenes that normally escape my notice on trips such as this. I’m am avid traveler – and was one even before business school – however taking a camera with me everywhere on a trip, crouching down, leaning, or contorting my body to get the right shot was a new way to experience a city for me.

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Wuzhen

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I soon settled on a concept where a reflection, projection, or echo was an integral part of the image, if not the image in its entirety. Throughout the trip, I was left in awe of the speed of China’s progress and economic activity that we have all heard so much about. However, through this trip it became clear to me that this development has come at significant cost: traditional buildings are being torn down without an appreciation for historic value, pollution is rampant, and the country-side is little more than patches of green paddies between sprawling mega-cities.

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My first image, “Gardens of Nurtured Harmony” is an inverted reflection through a pond of the Emperor’s Summer Palace (the title of this photo being its literal name in Mandarin) in the outskirts of Beijing. It reflects the China of old, rich in culture and historical significance. Much like the Forbidden City, this palace was off-limits to all but the Emperor and his immediate family, leaving outsiders like the shadow in the bottom right of this picture left to wonder what lay beyond.

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My second image, taken in Wuzhen – a small water town in the outskirts of Shanghai – again captures the China of old, but this time a manufactured one. In an effort to show foreigners what these water towns looked like prior to being displaced by sprawling apartment complexes, the Chinese government restored a village to what it would have looked liked several hundred years ago. I have done my part, editing for age.

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French Quarter Lamp

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The third image is the shadow of a European-styled lamp taken in the French Concession in Shanghai on the tail end of a sunny day. Shanghai was one of the few places in China (Hong Kong aside of course), that saw colonial powers bring trade and cultural influence to its doorstep. The street names in the concession, once in French, have all been reverted to Mandarin, but shadows of the neighborhood’s past remain.

Development Blur

“Development Blur” was taken on a high-speed rail while traveling at 190 mph through the Chinese “country-side”. The train stands as an example of China’s achievements, but also provides insight into the level of over-development China has seen in the last decade. Sadly, in a 5 hour train ride from Beijing to Shanghai, this industrial landscape was 80% of the view.

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Lost of Translation

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My fifth image, titled Lost of Translation, was taken through a revolving door leading out of a bank in Shanghai. English or any other language other than Mandarin for that matter, is rarely spoken in China, and so communicating with others can be particularly difficult or frustrating. This warning sign shows how difficult it can be to understand even images across cultures. I had no idea what was being conveyed here. More importantly, in this shot I show what Shanghai is to China – the future, modern and new, but relegated to look like every other modern first-world city I’ve been to. This could very well have been taken in Paris, Cape Town, Tokyo, New York, or Buenos Aires.

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They say everything comes at a price, and in the case of China’s rapid rise to industrialization, that price has been paid dearly by the environment. Perhaps it is because I am from Costa Rica, a country that inches along the development scale but which defends its environment vehemently, that I found the ecological impact of this rapid development so troublesome.

About The Author: Karl Gerchow is enrolled in the MBA program: Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

A Life Left Behind

Posted on April 20, 2012

Machu Picchu

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Dan Liu

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I still remember my interest in Peru started from a Machu Picchu jigsaw puzzle; a birthday present from my parents when I was little. Since then I have always been dreaming to travel to this seemingly unreachable country, and feel the mysterious Inca culture. A number of pictures were taken in Cusco, the place that used to be the capital of the Inca Empire: a place that witnessed the history of Inca. The city itself feels like a textbook, you can learn a lot about Peru and Inca culture from it – if you are modest enough.

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Cusco

I was attracted by the balcony in the above photo and the design of the side of the building when spontaneiously just when I was about to take a picture – two Peruvian women in traditional clothes entered the cameras view. This beautiful painting in front of me almost brought me back to 500 years ago – until I realized that one of them was talking on a cell phone.

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Rail Station

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My curiosity led me to see the rails that used to take people from Cusco to Machu Picchu directly. The service was stopped a few years ago due to a flood. Even though I almost missed my flight because of this unplanned adventure, I was very happy that I made it. This is the only train that connects Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) to the outside world. It told me another story about Cusco and Peru. My favorite picture of Cusco was the Cathedral of Cusco. The construction began in 1550 and was completed a century later. Even though it is considered one of the most splendid Spanish colonial churches in the Americas – you can still find the Inca vestiges through the non-Christian imagery that is carved on the main entrance door: figures of Pumas, the Inca representation of the Earth.

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Cathedral of Cusco

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Hostal

About The Author: Dan Liu is enrolled in the MBA program: Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Ryan Feit: Cuba

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Ryan Feit

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……….Make no mistake, times are hard in Cuba. Cuba has been frozen in time for the last 50 years. As a result, Cubans have struggled through countless bouts of famine, rations, and crises. The economy collapsed with the fall of the Soviet Union and has been in a downward spiral ever since.

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The older Cubans believe the Socialist propaganda they read in the papers. They seem completely unaware that the world has evolved since 1960. They argue about world events from decades ago and assume that mobile phones and the Internet are simply science fiction.

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Ryan Feit: Cuba

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The architecture is timelessly breathtaking and is evidence of its storied history. However, the houses and apartments have been washed away by time, exposing the real Cuba.

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Yet despite the relentless challenges, the people endure. Music carries the Cuban people just as it has for decades. Havana moves to a collective Salsa beat which puts a smile on the face of even the poorest Cuban.

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Cuba: Ryan Feit

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And they work with what they have. You won’t hear a single complaint that once again it’s a pulled pork sandwich for lunch and rice and beans for dinner.

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Ryan Feit: Cuba

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But the younger generation is excited for the future. They stand up tall, realizing they posses something special. They know that the time is getting close now and they are ready to reveal themselves to the world.

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Ryan Feit: Cuba

Photos by Ryan Feit: Copyright 2012

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About The Author: Ryan Feit is enrolled in the MBA program: Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

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Editor’s Note: To read more articles by Ryan Feit, go to the search bar at the top of the page: enter name and click green icon.

Susanna Burrows

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Susanna Burrows

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PARQUE del BUEN RETIRO

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“Park of the Pleasant Retreat”

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……….Parque del Buen Retiro, in the heart of the old city of Madrid, is a place where anyone can go to engage in the natural environment of the city. The park is a historic icon for the city, belonging to the Spanish Monarchy for over 3 centuries before it was open to the public in the early 1800’s. My photographs depict the people in this park, as they engage with the historic monuments and inhabit the landscape as a place to relax, work, learn, exercise, socialize, and love.

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My role as the photographer of this “People in a Park” series is that of an observer, or in Susan Sontag’s words from On Photography, I am a surveyor, my photos provide “incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened”. I have created a record of nameless characters doing specific things at specific moments in time. Who these people are is unimportant, yet what they are doing and the environment in which they reside produces the story.

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Susanna Burrows

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The photos that I chose depict the reality of the moments in raw form. They are my interpretation of the world as it existed at very specific moments in time in Parque del Buen Retiro. Sontag also wrote, “There is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what’s in the picture.” A park is a place of public gathering. Whatever time of day or time of year, the people who occupy a park are there only for a finite period of time. In this sense, photographing the users of a park is a means of depicting movement, emotion, light, shadow and nature, all of a transient nature. The images capture the ephemeral, freezing moments in time as creatures pass through this public place of recreation.

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Susanna Burrows

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A public place of gathering is a unique place in a city. While every city has a public realm, a successful, safe, and beautiful public space is special. How people engage with public places is a very personal experience. Like photography, the relationship that we have with parks is one’s own. Most people go to public parks for recreation – but what does this mean? Is it sitting, thinking, doing what you love? Is it observing? Watching the wind blow through trees, listening to music? A park is a place where people go to play – people of all ages engage with monuments – capturing their own photographs to document time. Everything is in motion.

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Susanna Burrows

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About The Author: Susanna Burrows is a Master of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Candidate, University of Pennsylvania – School of Design, Class of 2013.

Mikel & Miles: Malibu, 1988

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mikel Elam

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…………I love this photo of Me imitating Miles! It was the summer of 1988 and my second year as Miles’s assistant. We were at his home in Malibu, California for a few days – before leaving for Japan for various musical engagements. The man in the background of the photo is famed architect, John Lautner – who designed Chemosphere, the masterpiece home used as a backdrop for Brian Dipalma’s film entitled, Body Double. Miles was going to build an extension on his home, to include a painting studio. Of course Miles only wanted the most progressive artists consulting with him, so he chose John to design it.

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Mikel Elam: Strange Addiction

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Editor’s Note: To see more of Mike Elam’s paintings, go to the search bar at the top of the page: enter name and click green icon.

Demetra

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Bennett Lee

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Demetra’s as whimsical as they come. She has the naivety of a kid. Her child-like innocence allows the simple things in life to make her happy. We’ll be walking down a street and she’ll spot a balloon in an alley. As she throws it up into the air, you can see her face glow with excitement like a toddler opening her first Christmas present.

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Despite being a 20 year-old Wharton student, she’s pretty simple and is innately drawn to colorful things for no reason other than that they make her smile. Exploring places with her makes me feel like I’m in the movie Garden State.

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Unlike me, she’s always looking to explore and find something new and when she does, she immediately yanks me at the wrist, forcing me to check out whatever captures her attention. It’s often hard for me to understand her fascination, but as she forces me to slow down, I find myself beginning to like the cute Cat sticker on a pet-store window on South Street.

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South Street: Pet Store Window

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It’s a pleasant adventure walking with Demetra, and it’s our nice way of ending a hectic week of school. It’s very serene being away from all of the stress at Penn and the constraints of the world slowly begins to melt as we enjoy our time together.

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Demetra

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My intent in this series was to illustrate happiness in the way it unfolded to me. My vision of happiness evolved to incorporate an appreciation for the little things in this world. My hope is that these pictures will convey to my audience the curiosity and innocence my friend has so they too can slow down and appreciate the simple joys this world has to offer.

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Demetra

About The Author: Bennett Lee is enrolled in The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology – The Wharton School | School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Class of 2013 – Copyright 2012

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Editor’s Note: To read more articles by Bennett Lee, go to the search bar at the top of the page: enter name and click green icon.