What is Safe ?

  I spend much of my time think of where and what I want photograph. When sharing my ideas I'm usually asked several times about safety. It's nothing new and when I was working on my Philadelphia Project that was mostly photographed at night I was asked about the city not being safe at night. When I was working in the subway that question continued and became more frequent when I was in New York City at night taking photographs for Lonely New York. To this point I never felt not safe but my level of being on guard his risen in some occasions. Over the last two weeks I've ventured into parts of North Philly that are very much riddled with burned out factories, abandoned houses, vacant lots, a great deal of people living in poverty, and other forms of urban blight. In the late 20th century people would have just said "ghetto" but I'm not sure that's politically correct anymore. I would have to say that my on guard meter is on it's highest setting in this area and you can feel the tension in the air. The few people that I've run into weren't exactly welcoming and you could see the anger on their faces. Maybe it's just a front they constantly have to put on to feel safe themselves in such a dangerous area but I can almost see what they're thinking in little word bubbles above their heads. Being the only white person in an almost all black area can lead the residents to think am I there to buy drugs? Am I a cop? Do I work for another city agency? Am I a developer looking to snatch up property and gentrify the area? Or am I a tourist who got really lost? After all I do have a camera around my neck. I guess in the end I'll continue until I feel all hell is about break loose.
   I took this photo of a coffin today on a street where several people were shot and killed this weekend.


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