Philly Photo Day invites locals to share their take of the city

This spring there’s a chance for everyone to capture the beauty of the city with TILT Institute’s resurgence of Philly Photo Day. Taking place next month on April 5, the event welcomes locals to grab their camera or smartphone and “capture images of both the grand and the mundane that make our city so special.”

Participants can submit their photo online by April 14 for inclusion in the Philly Photo Day exhibition, which will be displayed for free to the public in TILT’s Project Gallery from May 18 to June 1, the release notes.

“TILT began hosting Philly Photo Day to increase art access through photography for our community,” said Sarah Stolfa, President, CEO, and Artistic Director of TILT in a statement. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional or have only ever taken photos with a smartphone, everyone is invited to share their vision of life in the city. Philly Photo Day celebrates all our unique creativity, viewpoint and relationship to the medium together.”

The first Philly Photo Day took place over a decade ago in 2011, and was held consistently until 2015. The event was intended as an opportunity for the Institute to engage the Philadelphia community, foster creativity through photography, and highlight the unique sights of the city, the release also noted.

Over those inaugural years, submissions showcased a lot of the city, or more so, how locals see it with snaps of Love Park, images of kids and pets, concert crowds, and creative perspectives of the skyline. In 2015, the day featured 1,412 images captured by participants living in the city, as well as surrounding counties, South Jersey, and parts of Delaware.

Philly Photo Day was brought back in 2024 amid TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image’s 15th anniversary. The organization—which was formerly known as the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center—was founded in 2009 as a localized creative arts venture with international reach.

Located in the Crane Arts Building in South Kensington, the TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image’s galleries are free and open to the public—and that will include the official Photo Day exhibit set to open in May.

The exhibition’s opening reception will also be held in conjunction with TILT’s annual celebration and fundraiser InVISION on May 18. As a release notes, while there, attendees can meet other photography lovers, celebrate community, enjoy entertainment and light refreshments, and support TILT. InVISION is a ticketed event open to the public and “focused on celebrating the community of image makers in Philadelphia.”

All proceeds will go towards TILT’s free youth education outreach programs, discounted classes and workshops, free programming and exhibitions, and artist residencies.

For more information on TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image, Philly Photo Day and InVISION, visit tiltinstitute.org