Philly Photo Day, the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's (PPAC) largest annual event, has new life in the form of an exhibition.

PPAC is currently holding a Philly Photo Day exhibition at Dilworth Park in Center City Philadelphia. The exhibition features 2,000 photographs taken on “Philly Photo Day” in October 2014. The collection of photos of life and landmarks in the city are displayed on the west side sidewalk of Dilworth Park.

Philly Photo Day is an event that asks anyone with a camera or smartphone to photograph something that caught their eye, and submit the photo to take part in a citywide artistic project.

“Philly Photo Day was a way for us to celebrate the first anniversary of Philadelphia Photo Arts Center,” Sarah Stolfa, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center Executive Director told AL DÍA News. “Our team wanted to celebrate the medium while also celebrating Philadelphia in a way that would encourage participation from people across the city. We wanted to take people from being viewers of photography, to makers of it.”

Since it’s start in 2010, the event has grown exponentially. Over 300 submissions were received their first year. In 2014, 1900 submissions were received.

“Responses to Philly Photo Day have been extremely positive,” Stolfa said. “People love to participate, probably because it allows them to creatively capture a moment of their own and put it on display. Whether it’s a shot of City Hall when the sun is setting, or a shot of a broken honey jar, they didn’t have to be a world renowned photographer in order for something they created to be showcased for the whole city to see.”

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Why an exhibition?

“So much of photography is viewed online, and when we are alone,” Stolfa said. “Creating an exhibition allowed us to create an opportunity for the community to physically come together to see itself and celebrate the works created.”

This year’s Philly Photo Day will take place on October 9 and will be even bigger by including the suburbs and surrounding counties outside of Philly.

The 2014 Philly Photo Day exhibition will be on display until June 21.

To view all photo submissions from the 2014 Philly Photo Day, click here.