Thinking Outside the (Sand)Box

My photograph of the Cobbs Creek Playground appeared on the front cover of The Pennsylvania Gazette’s November/December 2025 issue.

Most of my assignments related to the University of Pennsylvania involve cutting-edge facilities used by students and faculty, so it was a pleasant surprise to be asked to photograph spaces whose target audience is still years away from thinking about college.

Last fall, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Penn’s alumni magazine, published an article about Philadelphia playgrounds designed by alumni and faculty of Penn’s Weitzman School of Design. Art director Cathy Gontarek wanted a mix of drone images and views from the ground to illustrate the playgrounds’ innovative features.

With so many different structures to try, pushing a swing can be just as fun as riding on it.

Above Cobbs Creek Park in West Philadelphia, the brightly colored surfaces that mark the playground’s different spaces provide a fun contrast amid the surrounding tree canopy.

Going on location to determine the best light and composition was a fun way to test out my new drone, the DJI Mavic Pro 4. It has a telephoto lens that can shoot a tight view looking straight down, capturing aspects of the playgrounds that aren’t visible from a kid’s point of view.

The Anna C. Verna Playground at FDR Park in South Philadelphia features tree house–like structures with myriad ways to climb, explore, and perch.

This massive central swing set can support up to 30 riders on an array of swing shapes—traditional belt, bucket, nest, tandem, and more.

Gone are the steel slides and unforgiving concrete of playgrounds in my childhood. The ones I photographed are part of a recent movement to make U.S. playgrounds “more challenging, stimulating, educational—and fun!—for users of all ages.” Some focus on sustainability and ecological integration by using existing features, native plants, and salvaged materials to build a nature-based playscape. Others are more experimental and ambitious, presenting new takes on old favorites through expansive structures and a mix of materials that introduce the right amount of challenge and risk for young minds at play.

Rope-and-wood climbing structures invite curiosity and imaginative play.

The best part of photographing with a drone in Philadelphia is getting to use its skyline as a backdrop.