Core Goal
Build a self-expanding documentary system capable of continuously archiving Philadelphia through walking and photography.
The objective is not simply to create photographs.
The objective is to create a living archive of Philadelphia that grows automatically over time.
Long-Term Vision
Walk
→ Photograph
→ Import
→ AI-assisted processing
→ Project generation
→ Publication
→ Archive expansion
The photographer focuses on:
- walking
- seeing
- exploring
- photographing
- final editing
The system handles:
- organization
- mapping
- statistics
- project generation
- archive maintenance
Philly In Flux
Philadelphia In Flux is a city-scale photographic survey of Philadelphia.
Every completed walk contributes to a larger archive:
- Market Street
- Broad Street
- Frankford Ave
- Germantown Ave
- Washington Ave
- Ridge Ave
- Future streets
- Future neighborhoods
- Future transit routes
Current Pain Point
Walk
→ 1500 photos
→ Manually review 1500 photos
→ Select 207 archive photos
→ Generate project
→ Generate map
→ Generate stats
→ Generate downloads
→ Select 36 zine photos
→ Publish
The bottleneck:
1500 photos → 207 archive photos
Desired Workflow
Walk
→ Import photos to NAS
→ Mac Mini detects new project
→ Metadata extracted
→ Map generated
→ Stats generated
→ Download Project generated
→ AI proposes archive selection
→ Project created automatically
→ Dante reviews
→ Dante selects final 36
→ Publish
Goal:
When I arrive home, the project already exists.
Human Responsibilities
Focus on:
- walking
- photographing
- exploring
- observing
- final zine editing
Avoid spending hours:
- reviewing 1500 photos
- building maps
- calculating stats
- creating project structures
- uploading assets
AI Responsibilities
The AI should:
- analyze photos
- score photos
- tag photos
- identify duplicates
- identify weak frames
- identify strong frames
- propose archive selections
The AI is learning:
“What does Dante include in the archive?”
Not:
“What is objectively good photography?”
Two Editing Layers
Layer 1 — Archive Edit
1500 photos
→ ~200 archive photos
Purpose: Preserve the walk.
Layer 2 — Zine Edit
~200 archive photos
→ 36 zine photos
For now, Dante performs this step manually.
Training Dataset
Every walk becomes a training example.
Example:
Ridge Ave
- 1500 photos shot
- 207 archive photos selected
- 36 zine photos selected
Store:
- all_photos/
- archive_photos/
- zine_photos/
- metadata.json
Repeat for:
- Market Street
- Broad Street
- Frankford Ave
- Germantown Ave
- Washington Ave
- Ridge Ave
- Future Philly walks
Sandbox Strategy
Do NOT start with 388,245 photos.
Start with:
- Frankford
- Market
- Broad
- Germantown
- Washington
- Ridge
Reason:
These projects already contain:
- full walk
- archive edit
- zine edit
- chronology
- map data
- metadata
Philly In Flux Hub
Create:
/philly-in-flux/
A dedicated command center for the project.
Master Statistics
Automatically update:
- Total Photographs
- Miles Walked
- Steps Walked
- Hours Walking
- Hours Photographing
- Projects Completed
- Neighborhoods Reached
- Days Documented
- Archive Size
Philadelphia Progress System
Example:
PHILADELPHIA COVERAGE
██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░
18%
Track:
- Market Street ✓
- Broad Street ✓
- Frankford Ave ✓
- Germantown Ave ✓
- Washington Ave ✓
- Ridge Ave ✓
- Walnut Street □
- Chestnut Street □
- Roosevelt Blvd □
Master Philadelphia Map
Features:
- All completed walks
- Route overlays
- Street toggles
- Project links
- Coverage visualization
Users can:
- toggle routes on/off
- highlight specific streets
- open projects directly
Project Archive
Every completed walk lives here.
Example:
Broad Street In Flux
161 photos
20.17 km
Market Street In Flux
115 photos
10.08 km
Timeline View
June 2026
- Market Street
- Germantown
- Frankford
- Washington
- Ridge
Acts as a documentary logbook.
Automatic Project Generation
Given:
all_photos/
Generate:
- metadata.json
- route map
- project statistics
- project description
- download project
- contact sheet
- archive selection proposal
Success Condition
Walk
→ Import
→ AI archive edit
→ Project auto-generated
→ Master Philadelphia statistics updated
→ Master Philadelphia map updated
→ Coverage percentage updated
→ Dante reviews
→ Dante selects final 36
→ Publish
Goal:
Remove repetitive labor.
Create more time for:
- walking
- photographing
- exploring
- documenting Philadelphia
while the archive grows continuously.