It takes a lot of work by a lot of people in Charleston to get the Holy City ready every day for Spoleto Festival USA and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Even before the sun fully rises, there are plenty of folks working or soaking in the sights and sounds of the Lowcountry.
Restaurants and stores have to place trash and recycling containers along streets so they can be collected early before visitors and residents stream into shops to get jolts of coffee. Exercisers get on bikes or run at sun-up before streets become crowded. Others meditate as the sun rises over the Cooper River.
Journalism graduate students from Syracuse University rose during the first week of the festivals in the wee hours to capture some waking images of Charleston so you can see what it looks like before you head out in the morning. Here’s what they found:
Cleaning up and waiting for the morning rush
— Photos by Henry O’Brien.
The sun illuminates the city
— Photos by Ankit Bandyopadhyay
Running, sweeping, cleaning
— Photos by Emily Rutkowski…