Mission
Build a self-updating documentary system for Philadelphia that transforms walks into published archives with minimal manual labor.
The end state:
Walk → Import → AI Archive Edit → Auto Project Generation → Publish
PHASE 1 — PHILLY IN FLUX HUB
Goal
Create a dedicated home for the project.
URL:
/philly-in-flux/
Features
Hero
- Project description
- Current coverage percentage
- Total photographs
- Miles walked
- Hours documented
Master Map
- All completed walks
- Route overlays
- Toggle individual streets
- Open projects directly from map
Project Archive
- Broad Street
- Market Street
- Frankford Ave
- Germantown Ave
- Washington Ave
- Ridge Ave
- Future walks
Timeline
Chronological record of every walk.
Progress System
Examples:
- Major corridors completed
- Streets documented
- Neighborhoods reached
Video-game style completion meter.
PHASE 2 — DATASET FOUNDATION
Goal
Create the AI training dataset.
For every completed walk:
all_photos/
archive_photos/
zine_photos/
metadata.json
Initial sandbox:
- Broad Street
- Market Street
- Frankford Ave
- Germantown Ave
- Washington Ave
- Ridge Ave
Deliverables
Generate:
- complete photo inventory
- archive selections
- zine selections
- metadata exports
- route information
This becomes the canonical training dataset.
PHASE 3 — AUTOMATED PROJECT GENERATOR
Goal
Reduce manual project creation to near zero.
Future workflow:
Walk
↓
Import to NAS
↓
Mac Mini detects project
↓
Project generated automatically
Auto-generated
- map
- route
- statistics
- contact sheet
- description
- download project
- archive proposal
No manual setup.
PHASE 4 — ARCHIVE AI
Goal
Teach AI to perform the archive edit.
Input:
1500 photos
Output:
Top archive candidates
Example:
1500 photos
↓
AI proposes 250
↓
Dante approves 200
↓
Archive published
Important:
The AI is NOT selecting the final zine.
The AI is learning:
“What belongs in the archive?”
PHASE 5 — HUMAN ZINE EDIT
Goal
Keep final authorship human.
Input:
Archive selection
Output:
36-photo zine
Workflow:
AI archive edit
↓
Dante reviews
↓
Dante selects final 36
↓
Publish
This remains the creative layer.
PHASE 6 — AUTOMATED INGEST
Goal
Remove import friction.
Dream workflow:
Finish walk
↓
Import from phone
↓
NAS receives files
↓
Mac Mini detects upload
↓
Processing begins automatically
While traveling home:
- metadata extracted
- route generated
- project generated
- AI scoring completed
By arrival:
Project mostly complete.
PHASE 7 — CITY SCALE
Goal
Expand beyond individual walks.
Track:
- streets completed
- neighborhoods reached
- transit routes documented
- city coverage percentage
Examples:
✓ Broad Street
✓ Market Street
✓ Frankford Ave
✓ Germantown Ave
✓ Washington Ave
✓ Ridge Ave
□ Roosevelt Boulevard
□ Walnut Street
□ Chestnut Street
Coverage becomes measurable.
PHASE 8 — ADVANCED AI
Future work.
Potential capabilities:
- archive scoring
- duplicate detection
- visual clustering
- project descriptions
- route summaries
- zine suggestions
- thematic grouping
Not required for initial launch.
SUCCESS CONDITION
A future walk looks like:
Walk
↓
Photograph
↓
Import
↓
AI archive edit
↓
Project generated
↓
Statistics updated
↓
Map updated
↓
Coverage updated
↓
Dante selects final 36
↓
Publish
Result:
More time walking.
Less time managing files.
Continuous growth of the Philadelphia archive.