The only constant is the concept of change. This series of photographs surveys the people who call the communities around campus their homes from an outsider’s perspective. It is a curious attempt to find out what are the factors that kept people going in those rather poorer neighborhoods, and their commentary on the change within their neighborhoods.

By conversing with one residence who lived in the Mantua neighborhood for more than 20 years, I understood that historically there was a segregation between the north side of West Philly and the south; The north side resides mainly African American families while the south side reserves for white families. Within the recent years, Mantua welcomed more and more students due to its distance to Drexel’s campus and relatively low land values, thus cheaper rent.

From another conversation with a resident who lived in Belmont for over 40 years, I learned that the community changed from being a rather dangerous to a safer one; Students were welcomed to walk around compared to years ago when it would be considered very dangerous.

Churches are perchance the most important factor for many families here. Although the conditions aren’t ideal, churches and Christianity kept many hopefuls. A mother with her son steps outside of their church while I walked by, they invited me to attend one of their prayers. My observations conclude that by singing and having faith together, there is a strong sense of purpose and belonging in this lonely world that very much promotes individualism; their living condition might not be the best, but they seemed very content and taken care of.

Outside of another church in Mantua, Lawrence and I talked about his experience with living in mantua. He stated that he believes that when one comes from the bottom, one would not need to fear anything in life; the individual is able to react to a fall from their life because they have already stayed at the bottom. Lawrence said he is up no matter how, because of where he came from. While out finishing my last negative, an unexpected storm came up to me. A family sitting out at their front porch invited me to stay until the rain settled. they offered me a bag to cover my 4x5 camera incase it gets wet from the rain.

—September 2025