Comments on: episode 22 - a little over five years

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:00:00 +0000

what kinda camera you use bro ?
looks nice
my email’s wilnva@msn.com
i been thinkin of doing some vids
think i’d like to use the same cam

By: Fernando08

Fernando08 — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:03:00 +0000

David, in 1974 I went to Penn on the Frankford El. My freshman year, I commuted from Lawndale. I took the N bus from Rising Sun and Martins Mill Rd to Bridge and Pratt, then off at 34th St. The El was in an advanced state of disintegration and the trip took up to 2 hours or more. The weakened trestles forced the train to crawl at less than 10 MPH between some stations. Of course, I had taken the El a thousand times or more going downtown, to the Tower Theater and then the last time I regularly took it, before I started to drive on a regular basis and moved into a dorm at Penn. I had always observed the neighborhoods, the buildings and when the rebuilding/completion of I-95 took the last leg of the El into its new route and removed many familiar landmarks, I often thought about taking pictures. So much of the Industrial city that I knew is gone. I am glad you have the heart to go out and record a living history of the great people who helped build and then endured the decline of Philadelphia.

By: zs

zs — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:29:00 +0000

I think this is my favorite yet.

By: David S Kessler

David S Kessler — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:46:00 +0000

thank you, John!
John is an archivist at Temple University’s Urban Archives. It was really the perfect episode for him to be a part of. his presence there really helped shape this episode.

By: John

John — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:54:00 +0000

Hey David. This piece did turn out great. Thanks again. It was a great experience going out on the shoot with you.

By: libby

libby — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 02:21:00 +0000

Oh, David, that’s so sad. But the shop endures and the tapes endure and he endures. In the end it will only be the tapes–if someone hangs on to them. Wow!

By: David S Kessler

David S Kessler — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:03:00 +0000

thanks Roberta!

By: roberta

roberta — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 17:50:00 +0000

the whole thing is poignant, David. You treat this with great dignity and respect. The tone is just right. Congrats on another super episode.

By: David S Kessler

David S Kessler — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 23:15:00 +0000

i felt very fortunate that Richard took the time to talk to us. I didn’t actually get the sense that he routinely watched the tapes. when asked, it didn’t seem to ever occur to him to do anything with them. I think it is only recently that he decided that he wanted to see his girlfriend again.
For you and I, his collection of tapes going back 35 years sounds like a wonder of buried treasure. for Richard, I suspect they are something altogether different. I don’t believe that the tapes actually held much sentimental value for him until the death of his girlfriend. they were merely the product of something very practical.
What strikes me was how little change there seemed to be between the store now and the store 35 years ago, except for the fact that most of the people in the videos, except for Richard, are now dead. In fact without the people in the video, you probably would not even be able to tell that you are looking at video from 35 years ago and not the live feed and this is what Richard sees everyday. that alone I find to be quite poignant.

By: squareamerica

squareamerica — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 05:15:00 +0000

Another fantastic episode- the fact that he has 35 years worth of old surveillance tapes is incredible- what is far more incredible is the fact that he watches them (to see his dead girlfriend no less). Powerful stuff.