“View of Philadelphia City Hall.” | Photo: Daniel Moreno
Several years ago, Trope Publishing, a Chicago-based company, began a series of coffee table books called “Above & Across,” with each volume devoted to aerial photography of a particular city. After producing editions for Chicago, London, San Francisco, and Atlanta, they have now released one of Philadelphia.
11 photographers captured the city from above via helicopters, observation decks, and drones. One of them, Philadelphia resident Luke Cuccurullo, works exclusively with the latter. Although he’s been a professional photographer for a long time, he only began using a drone less than a year ago. “The aerial view, with its different angle, has been really interesting,” he said. “Philadelphia is pretty flexible when it comes to what you can do with drones. In places like New York City, there are a lot more restricted areas.”
“Above Independence Hall and Independence National Historical Park.” | Photo: Brett Gross
Drones are programmed to avoid entering restricted areas, such as airports and military installations. Those for recreational use must weigh less than 250 grams, slightly less than nine ounces. Drones for commercial use can be larger, but require a license from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate.
The book’s Chicago-based editors did their homework, assembling a list of the iconic images they wanted and locating Philadelphia-based photographers by trawling Instagram. “I asked them, ‘what do you not have?’ They sent a checklist of about 20 sites and gave me a week to shoot them,” Cuccurullo recalled. “It was tough, a week of bad weather, but I got it done.”
“Looking down on Lincoln Financial Field.” | Photo: Luke Cuccurullo
How did they get Philly to look so good? Admittedly, most of the images are iconic: famous historic sites, modern skyscrapers, sports stadiums. Cuccurullo explained that a lot of it has to do with the time when the photographs are taken. “You mostly try to shoot during the ‘golden hour.’ Around an hour before sunset or an hour after sunrise. 15 minutes or so on either side is ideal.” The array of photographs in the book also captures how attractive Philadelphia’s four seasons can be.
As Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia and native son, Paul Steinke often extols the city’s walkability and streetscapes. Nevertheless, he appreciates this different vantage point and contributed a foreword to the book. “These different views from the sky show Philadelphia is in best light.”
In this book series Philadelphia is number five. However, the city actually holds a historic first in aerial photography. In July 1893, witnessed by a crowd of thousands in Fairmount Park, photographer William Nicholson Jennings and three others attempted a hot air balloon excursion to Atlantic City. The trip was not completed, but it earned Philadelphia the distinction of being the first city in the world to be photographed from a balloon. The images were exhibited in Europe and the United States and were used in a series of popular postcards.
“View of the Merchant Exchange Building and Walnut Street.” | Photo: Brett Gross
One of the challenges of obtaining pristine photographs of iconic Philadelphia sites is having the subject in the clear from any distractions or extraneous objects, a difficult situation with some of our most beloved tourist destinations. “My shot of the Art Museum steps with the Eagles banners after they won the Superbowl was tough to get,” Cuccurullo admitted. “I had to wait a long time for people to leave and then still had to edit a few out of the final image.”
A particularly intriguing shot is of Eastern State Penitentiary, where architect John Haviland’s design, with the cellblocks radiating out from a central hub like the spokes of a wheel, is in full view. “I probably wouldn’t have shot Eastern State Penitentiary if they hadn’t asked me to do it,” Cuccurullo noted. “Now, it’s one of my favorite contributions to the book.”
“View of the Victory Building.” | Photo: Trevor Adams
Another of his favorites is the aerial view of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal along the Delaware River. “Driving over the Walt Whitman Bridge, I always like to look at all the colors of the shipping containers.”
A few of the descriptions are indicative of out-of-town editors. That aerial shot of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal is simply labelled a “look down on the Delaware River.” Another photo of the tall ship Moshulu, which contains a restaurant, is called “a restaurant on the Delaware River,” and one of Kelly Drive near the Ellen Philips Samuel Memorial sculpture garden is labeled “Lemon Hill Park.” Yet, they still allow us to claim as our own a shot of the battleship New Jersey on the Delaware River, in Camden, and Subaru Park, where the Philadelphia Union play, in Chester.
“View of the Philadelphia Skyline.” | Photo: Nathaniel Bayona
On the other hand, the photographic record in the book serves, and will continue to serve, as a historical marker as Philadelphia’s built landscape changes. A stunning shot of the USS United States provides a memory of the ship that had been anchored along the Delaware River for so long.
With an abundance of grand historic buildings, sleek modern skyscrapers, and big sports stadiums, the book belies our image of a city of neighborhoods, images of which are in short supply here. Despite that, Above & Across Philadelphia is a breathtaking collection of stunning photographs, which will appeal to visitors and potential visitors, as well as Philadelphians who appreciate the architecture of our iconic sites.
Beautifully done, and a genuine tribute to Philadelphia!
I’m a former Philly resident, but has been in Chicago for many years now. I will look for this book. I see the many of my stomping grounds in the those photos and do feel homesick. Certain locales are no longer around and some new ones popped up that didn’t exist when I was living in Philly.