Temple Now

Story by Alix Gerz, SMC´03, CLA ´07

Whether she is balancing on a rooftop, swinging from a construction crane or wandering into an abandoned factory, Betsy Manning, SMC ´87, CLA ´08, will do whatever it takes to get the shot that perfectly captures the story of the buildings around her. She says there is no better city to document than Philadelphia, her hometown.

"People say it´s a city of neighborhoods, and that´s true," she notes. "Every place is different." In fact, her most recent exhibition, Uncommon Modern: Commercial Vernacular Architecture in Greater Philadelphia, 1937-1970, focused on the city´s mid-20th-century architecture. Held at the University of Pennsylvania this past fall and winter, the exhibit showcased buildings that are not well known, but which Manning finds important because of their "everyday" natures.

Sites such as Philadelphia´s Northeast Regional Library at Cottman Avenue and Oakland Street, the Broad Street Animal Hospital at Broad and Nedro streets, and the Philco factory at B and Tioga streets never fail to compel Manning to photograph them.

"The buildings are just ´there´ to most people—the structures you pass and ignore," says Manning, who also is Temple´s manager of photography and digital assets. "But they are all worth a long look. Each one has something someone thought would look good: some crazy shape—a round bank!—or some funky railing or a clock that seems to float off a wall. I just like that kind of thing."