“I see a platform for change right here,” Aziz said. “When you look at my page, you see families, you see couples, you see kids and their parents. It’s beautiful. You can look out for the good wherever you are and choose to focus on the good.”

Family roots on South Street

South Street’s many stories include the story of Aziz’s family. His current photographic mission is one fueled by love and memory.

“This is a place that’s dear to my heart and my family,” Aziz said.

His father, Aziz Kadoorie Aziz, an Iraqi, and his Moroccan mother, Amina Aziz, who was here with family members, came to Philadelphia to attend college at Temple University. It was here they met.

“It’s like a family love story,” Aziz said. “My mom was working at Reading Terminal Market at a cheese shop. My dad was just walking by. He thought she was Italian or something, and one thing led to another, and I was born.”

His mom also worked for a while at South Street Souvlaki, and his dad had an electronics store on South Street. He has fond childhood memories of going to Penns Landing with his father to watch the boats.

His grandparents were a major part of his Philly upbringing, and his mother had brothers here. But her brother Saeed Bouayad especially has a starring role in this story.

Nicknamed Sam, the uncle not only gave Aziz his name, but the photographer now uses it as his alter ego — South Street Sam — as he creates his pictorial love epic-poem to South Street.

It’s fitting; Uncle Saeed just loved South Street in the 90s.

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