Philadelphia Pretzels, 1988

Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, Inc., was located at 4315 N. 3rd Street and opened in the year of my birth, 1968. The photographs presented here were created for an assignment during my sophomore year at the Philadelphia College of Art and represent a kind of homecoming. Although my grandmother still lived in this North Philly neighborhood, my family had long moved away from the city – initially to the suburbs of Michigan and later to more rural New Jersey.

Upon returning for college, the city, personal spaces, people, and the exploration of childhood memories became the focus of my photography. I remember distinctly about this particular series that I spent the previous night at my grandmother’s house and had to wake up around 3 am to be at the factory when the pretzels were being made. I recall being blocks from the factory and, almost like a cartoon, being lured there by the heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread. Throughout the hours I spent photographing I felt a deep familiarity, as if I knew the people and the place. Later, I discovered that this neighborhood was just blocks from my parents' first house. I'm preserving this series as a reminder of my Philadelphia roots, food for my soul, “Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven feed me till I want no more.”