Jaunt to Eastern State Penitentiary October 14?

Ian Grant

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Are you planning to stay long

These Peniterntiary visits are usually measured in a minimum of a few months and often years . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ian
 
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TheFlyingCamera

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Ha Ha Ha.

Eastern State is the oldest penitentiary in the US, and the inspiration for prison design around the world for well over a century. It is now open as a museum, and is a photographer's wet dream if you're into architecture or weston-esque peeling paint and crumbling plaster. Google it for more information. I've got a couple of shots of it in my gallery here if you're so inclined.
 

eclarke

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Pretty impressive. I have been in Philadelphia a few times had time to wander aimlessly. I think I was within blocks of this place..how could I miss it? Can you wander around with no supervision and can you use a tripod??...Evan Clarke
 

Dinesh

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eclarke said:
.... Can you wander around with no supervision and can you use a tripod
Click to expand...

You can do that in real prison.........................or so I've been told.
 

c6h6o3

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eclarke said:
Can you wander around with no supervision and can you use a tripod??...Evan Clarke
Click to expand...

Sort of. Certain areas are off limits due to dangerous structural deterioration and are blocked off.

You can use a tripod anywhere except where to do so would block egress.

What Scott said is true. It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of any red blooded large format photographer. I myself begin to hear a chorus of angels beginning about 3 blocks from the place.
 

JG Motamedi

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It is an amazing place. I lived a few blocks south of there for a few years when I was in grad school. Oddly I never brought a camera in there.
 
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TheFlyingCamera

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Dinesh said:
You can do that in real prison.........................or so I've been told.
Click to expand...

Dinesh- you've been watching too many episodes of Prison Break on Fox.

Yes, though, to answer the question, you can wander fairly freely through the whole complex, tripod in tow, and shoot what you like so long as you don't block traffic flow and don't disturb the decay. You can shoot into prison cells, but you wouldn't want to enter most of them anyway - they're full of decayed plaster and lead paint and such.

It's chock full of old iron work, barrel-vaulted ceilings, peeling paint, early 19th century stonework, and the outside looks like a medieval fortress. It's not far from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, on Fairmount Street. There's a couple of neat restaurants within spitting distance of the building, too - a really nifty Italian place called L'Oca, The Firehouse (a burgers-and-steaks place), and an English pub themed restaurant.
 

bliorg

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So, didja go? How was it?

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier - I live about an hour from Philly...
 

c6h6o3

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bliorg said:
So, didja go? How was it?

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier - I live about an hour from Philly...
Click to expand...

Myself, my two daughters (ages 11 and 14) and Scott formed our minion. The girls got bored pretty quickly and we decided that we weren't up for the Haunted House, so I only made two negatives. One of them needs N-4 development, so it will wait until I go up to Steve Sherman's on the 5th of Nov. to semi-stand develop it. The other one is normal so I'll do that this week maybe.

Anyway, a good time was had by all. We may go back either this weekend or the next for the Haunted House. Or, I may go back just to point a view camera at those gargoyles.

I don't know what Scott photographed. He left early to go to Project Basho.
 

Muggs

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Hello Scott,

How did the trip to Eastern State go? Obviously I couldn't make it.
I've been trying to get to a Basho critique for a while now, but I've either been busy with other things or family stuff.
I would be interested in what you thought of the critique and seeing some photos from the prison.

Thanks,
Muggs
 
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TheFlyingCamera

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Eastern State is as always, cool to photograph. The month of October though, is a bad time to go because of the Halloween stuff - too many people all day. I've been told it is better in November, through the end of the season. I've been before in the spring, when you can be somewhere for twenty minutes without seeing anyone else. I also only exposed three sheets this time- one of them may be worthless because some thundering hippo of a woman had to go marching behind the camera at full steam while I was positioned on a walkway on the second story and shook the entire walkway.

The critique at Project Basho was pretty good, although during the official critique hours this time I was the only one to show up. Tsuyoshi showed me his vertical panoramics he's been doing of "hidden Philadelphia" from people's apartment windows. Later on though, a group of other folks came by to use the darkroom, and I got to meet Richard Boutwell, and see some of his work. I think the critiques need to get some kind of critical mass behind them so they have a regular attendance - Tsuyoshi was indicating that sometimes they have ten or more people show, and sometimes it's just one.

If you want to see some photos from Eastern State, I have some in my gallery here on APUG: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

and

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

When I get the new stuff done (a trio of 5x12's), I'll post them here also.
 
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