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Benjamin Franklin Institute to move out of the South End

The Boston Sun reports the technical school will sell its Berkeley Street home and use the money to find or build a larger, more modern facility elsewhere in the city - and bolster its endowment.

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How many Benjamin Franklin institutes?

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One here and Philly.

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In Benjamin Franklin's will, he left a small amount of money -- I think $100 each -- for each of his two home cities, Boston and Philadelphia. The trustees of his estate had instructions to invest the money, without taking any withdrawals or expenses, for 100 years. At that point half of the money was to be given to each city, and the remaining half to be invested for another 100 years.

The Boston money was used in 1890 to create the Franklin Institute in the South End, a training school for the mechanical arts (to use an old terminology). The Philadelphia money was used to create a science museum, also called the Franklin Institute.

Almost 30 years ago, on the 200th anniversary of Franklin's death, there were questions about where the second half of the bequest should go. The Boston money again went to the Franklin Institute, which at the time was struggling, but which now seems to be doing well. I don't know where the Philadelphia money went in 1990.

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you know...a benjamin.

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Whoa. Among other architectural features, it includes a 1/3rd size replica of Symphony Hall and murals by local artist Charles Mills.

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We lost the photo school in kemore sq and now this. Boston is really not the place I use to enjoy. You rich outsiders suck.

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They are looking at Dorchester and they have some valid reasons for wanting/needing to move.

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Photographic Resource Center at Boston University
https://prcboston.org/

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What a scam that photography school must have been. There is probably no other discipline where you can so easily pass yourself off as an artist while having no talent. Just get yourself a decent camera and take lots of photos.

Look at all the excellent photos posted here. I'll take sunset photos by Adam or harbour photos by Swirlygrrl over any photography exhibition.

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Check out the Ansel Adams exhibit at the MFA, or read one of AA's books.

Or read Brad Washburn's accounts of the sometimes months of planning that went into some of his more famous shots.

You might find something of interest there.

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Decent post.

I have seen Ansel Adams' work. A friend of mine has several books and they are good.

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As someone who has many friends who are photographers I think you are way under selling the art of Photography. Anyone can get a halfway decent shot , you are right, but to do it consistently is difficult. To get that shot that is needed, or the shot others do not have... way more goes into it then just pointing and shooting.

I took the photo that Adam uses on Twitter for the banner portion of the page. It took me an hour to get make sure the sky was just right. I knew where to take it, I knew the right settings. Yet there is plenty I still could have done to make it better.

Just even the logitistics of knowing where and when to be somewhere can get complicated. Do you think all those moon shots are just accidents?

I get complimented for my shots all the time but I am very cautious about taking credit beyond that as an "artist" because I have not reached that level yet. Although if you compare even my stuff to the average person off the street my stuff stands out heads and shoulders. Then place me next to someone with education in the field and they blow me away.

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The Photographic Resource Center is no longer at Boston University. It has moved to Lesley University in Porter Square.

New England School of Photography is now on Moody Street in Waltham.

Also, Kapil doesn't know what he is talking about.

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Also, Kapil doesn't know what he is talking about.

Ansel Adams was family friend.

My father received his photography training at the Franklin Institute and was hired as a staff photographer and reported directly to Dr. Land at Polaroid Corporation in the late 1960s, and specialized in large format photography (He then moved into a product line management position and managed products related to some of its large format and other professional grade products and was with Polaroid until its demise in the late 90s/early 2000s). As part of his employment training, he took several of Ansel Adams's workshops and ended up becoming quite friendly with him and his wife Virginia. He and Adams took several photo treks into Owens Valley, Death Valley, and Yosemite in the 70s and 80s, and he worked with Adams on a project to photograph the MFA's collection for the 100th anniversary of its opening. Adams came to our house for dinner at least once when he was visiting Boston (I have no memory of it, I was too young). In the summer when I was around 13 or 14, I went along with my father on some of his freelance jobs (usually real estate photography -and not for MLS listings- more for commercial brochures, etc), which involved doing things like standing in a sumac grove on the banks of the Mystic River in Medford, going to an upper floor of the Dock Square garage, or him talking our way into an under-construction penthouse atop Brook House in Brookline, all to get the right position and framing of the buildings he was photographing, and that was before hitting the darkroom. It was long and sometimes boring work (at least for me), but it was hard work, and what I saw was only the tip of the iceberg, because after the film was in the can, there was the whole matter of developing, editing, curating and printing (I won't even go into editing photos using an enlarger -it makes editing via photoshop look like fingerpainting). So Ron, I agree, Kapil knows nothing. Absolutely nothing.

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I'll give you AA but he would have been good at any discipline he chose. Scouting out the perfect spot to sit and wait for the rare grebe to begin his mating dance might be impressive but it does not make the photographer an artist per se.

Self important photographers excluded, most people have way more respect for the artistic ability of artists on Boston Common that can carve images out of a block of ice over the course of an afternoon.

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You got a link to some of your shots?

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What a pillbug...

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The Benjamin Franklyn Institute is a wonderful resource. I'm glad to see them taking the steps they need to continue giving their students an up-to-date technical education. A relative of mine went there to learn auto mechanics - it was precisely what this non-traditional student who doesn't do well in the usual education settings needed.

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There were many earlier reports that this sale was imminent, You can't blame them for taking the money and running, as that land is too valuable today.

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That's where many of the students reside anyway. It would be good for that side of the city to have some higher education options anyway.

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