1000 words

Max Cook’s photo of the Washington Monument at night, shot with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III,  reminded me of the book, Washington By Night, by Volkmar Wentzel, of photos taken in the 1930’s.

Darkness Falls, © 2009 Max Cook

Dirk Mevis took this portrait with a Nikon D700.  Submit your photos to the group LOOKDC.

© 2009 Dirk Mevis

I love this street scene with the church in the background. First one to correctly guess the street gets a free PoP t-shirt.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics.

“I grew up in Auburn, Massachusetts. In 1991, I came to D.C. after graduate school as a Presidential Management Intern with the Office of Management and Budget. I thought that I would work here for a few years and then go back to Massachusetts. The longer I stayed, though, the more deeply routed I became. I met my wife here. We bought and renovated a house on Capitol Hill. We started a family here. Any notion of leaving got increasingly distant with time.

“Somewhere along the way, I got interested in this city itself and how to make it better. When Anthony Williams was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Washington, I was offered an opportunity to be a detailee in his office from my position in the U.S. Department of Transportation. When Mr. Williams became mayor, he asked if I would serve as CFO of the Police Department. Chief Ramsey had just come in from Chicago. There seemed to be so many exciting things going on at that time. With the Police Department, we were working on issues no less important than the safety of the citizens living in the nation’s capital. Still, I had no intention of staying with the city for longer than a few years. But, from the Police Department, I went to the D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT), then Metro, and then became the City Administrator and Deputy Mayor. Now, I am back in the federal government as Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Management, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Performance Officer.

“One of the great stories from my time in the city is of the Circulator bus. Someone once described me as the father of the Circulator. I think that is an unfair description. There were so many people who had been working on this idea for a long time. There was the Museum Bus that cropped up in the 80’s then died, and the Blue Bus started by Ginger Latham, and the Georgetown Bid. The Blue Bus connected Georgetown and Dupont Circle. I mean, can you imagine two cooler destinations to go to and from? What was fascinating was that the bus served primarily workers in Georgetown. For them, the bus was a huge bonus because parking in Georgetown can be a nightmare and the transit connections can be unreliable. I used to joke that the bus schedule is a list of times that the bus will not come. This shuttle made it easy for people to get to work. The Blue Bus made it clear that there was a market for similar bus routes.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Rebecca Drobisis a DC photographer specializing in photographing youth culture.  When not in DC, Rebecca is working on a long term project in Montana about children growing up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.  Rebecca also teaches kids to use their cameras to express themselves.

Horse Girls, Blackfeet Reservation in Heart Butte, Montana.  © 2009 Rebecca Drobis

Photographer Paul Sharratt shot this on film using a medium format Mamiya 7.  This photograph was included in the My Space on 7th exhibit at the Touchstone Gallery this past August/September 2009.   Paul also shot this black and white photograph at the Faeire Festival in 2009.

I debated whether or not to share this. It is just so violent I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I can’t believe someone thought this was a good idea.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics.

Shannon – “When I moved here from Atlanta and started taking public transportation and walking around the city, I faced gender based public sexual harassment at least once a day. It was really scary. Last fall, I decided to do something about it and I took the advocacy training program at the D.C. Rape Crisis Center. That’s where I met Chai. We started talking about street harassment and realized that there was no venue in D.C. for people to talk about these issues. A lot of people don’t know that D.C. has one of the highest rates of gender based violence in the country. We wanted to bring people together to think about community solutions to the problem of harassment.

“We were really inspired by Emily May who started Holla Back in New York. Her blog’s aim was to create a forum for women to share stories about harassment. We contacted her and she shared her model and the name with us. We set up Holla Back DC! as a place for people to share their stories about harassment in D.C. We also offer workshops and training on street harassment for women and those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. We believe in addressing the roots of this problem so we are doing youth outreach, too. Now, we are working to bring RightRides to D.C., which provides free rides to women and those in the LGBTQ communities on Friday and Saturday nights. We are also working with businesses to develop safe streets and safe stores where the staff are trained in dealing with street harassment and it is just a safe place for one to get away from a harasser.”

Chai – “We recognize that the medium that we use is not accessible to all individuals who are victims to this kind of harassment. Now, a lot of the stories that people share are from Northwest, but that does not mean that it is confined to that quadrant. We know it happens everywhere. We are trying to engage the victims, harassers and bystanders all around the city to better understand the problem in D.C. and work together towards a solution. Still today, a lot of folks don’t know that it’s not cool to catcall a woman. We get a lot of people telling us that harassment is the cost of living in the city. But, we see it happen in rural areas, too. Regardless of where someone lives or her socioeconomic status, a woman can feel disempowered when somebody says to her, ‘Hey baby, I want to have sex with you tonight!’ People change their walking routes and talk about how they feel differently about themselves when they are harassed.

“Look, we’re not trying to say that if it is consensual and both parties are cool with it, it is wrong. For example, a highlighted wedding story in one of the Washington newspapers this summer talked about a man who met his wife by hollering at her on the street. He said, ‘Keep doing that catwalk!’ She said, ‘Oh, you like it?’ That is literally the way it was written. It was street harassment that turned into dating then marriage. Again, we are not here to judge, but a lot of people may have been offended or scared by comments like that. While few individuals end up in loving relationships due to street harassment beginnings, the vast majority are unsuccessful and offensive to women. Some men write into our blog and say that street harassment is just a natural part of the male evolution and they can’t help themselves. My response is that given how unsuccessful of a practice it is, it should have died out through the basic laws of evolution long ago!”

Learn more about Holla Back DC! here.

I didn’t think I’d find another sweet street scene until the Spring but I thought the Basilica in the background looked pretty awesome.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics.