Play in the City 2013

If I turned on flash, then I lost the shadow of the rubik's cube. If I did not turn it on, the words were blurry. So, I'm posting two pictures one with flash and one without!

On our walk from Suburban station to the Free Library, most classmates were busy taking pictures of skyscrapers and monumental buildings. I, however, didn’t even press my shutter, which seemed strange since I always say I love photography. The reason was my “photography philosophy”: I see with my eyes, not with my camera, and I won’t start taking photos until the beauty no longer dumbfounds me. And I was dumbfounded then, by so many homeless people in the brightest and most fancy part of the city. In China, I had only seen them in poor suburban and subways, because city inspectors would banish them from visible area, but here they have the freedom to sleep in the perfect Logan Square or under the statue of a war hero, skateboard in Love Square, and look so vibrant under the warm Saturday sun. Just a few steps away, in the small streets straying from the broad and gorgeous Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, their scrawls are everywhere, and when they are merely standing there talking I can sense their movement like dancing. This is what Sharon Zukin says, “a kind of low-down but truer sense of where the self can develop”.

After wandering for a while, I went in the Free Library – also the territory of the homeless. I sat among them and started to enjoy the Quiet Volume.

“Put your hand on the paper, palm down, and press it into the book. Press harder. Push until your hand starts to shake a little bit.” I looked up awkwardly hoping no one noticed me. And no one did. They concentrated in reading.

On Saturday, September 14, the various members of the two classes of Play in the City met with Mark in the glass atrium outside of Hepburn; I was among the first people there, got my ticket, and watched as the room filled with people in waves. When most of the group had arrived, a few stragglers rushing in behind, Mark explained the details of the trip, and we split into groups; I was paired with a woman named Agatha, and we grouped with Phoenix and Marcia.

We rode the train into town; it was full but not crowded, Agatha enjoying a conversation with a friend as I read. When the train reached our station, we hurried off; the train stops were brief enough that a stumble could make you miss your stop. A short walk took us to the library, where Mark described the plan for the day; “Go play, and make sure to come back on time for your ticket.”