Philadelphia Photographer Captures School Closings

From Newsworks:

Photo exhibit opening this week chronicles the 'decline and destruction' of Philly public schools

"It's like a visual documentation of what was once a public-school system. This is the beginning of the decline and the destruction of it."


--Harvey Finkle, photographer, Philadelphia School Closings Photo Collective and Public School Notebook

The display's 20, mostly color photographs are the work of the Philadelphia School Closings Photo Collective. The loose network of nearly 30 photographers divvied up the list in response to a call for action sent out by heralded artist Zoe Strauss.

At its core, Finkle, staff photographer for the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, a NewsWorks content partner, said the exhibit is a form of protest.

"It's like a visual documentation of what was once a public-school system," said Finkle. "This is the beginning of the decline and the destruction of it."

Tieshka Smith shot photos at Roberts Vaux High School in North Philadelphia during an annual block party organized each year to celebrate the end of the school year.

She said it was a "weird" and "sad" experience.

"It's not like, 'Yeah, block party! See you next year!' It's like, 'Yeah, block party. See you around,'" said Smith.