On May 7 I visited Washington DC trying to locate some murals. While on Georgia Avenue near Howard University I caught sight of the first mural on the side of a small grocery store. As I read the information about the mural I learned that it was part of a project of the DC Commission on the Humanities and the Arts.
It was raining and this probably had the effect of making the photographs a little less luminous. I suspect in brighter sunshine these photographs would stand out more. Although the trade-off was very even lightning with no harsh shadows and on balance maybe this was a better day for shooting after all.
All of the murals that I took pictures of were located in primarily African-American neighborhoods. I think more murals are in other locations and I will have to find them on another visit. The following is a list of the pictures and their approximate locations:
Washington DC 2 – Georgia St. and Buchanan
Washington DC 3 – Georgia St. & Webster
Washington DC 5 – Georgia St. and Taylor
Washington DC 7 – 14th St. and U (in an alley)
Washington DC 8 – T St. and 7th
Washington DC 10 – T St. between 7th and 8th
Washington DC 11 – T St. between 7th and 8th
Washington DC 12 – T St. and 4th
If you want to learn more about the DC Commission on the Humanities and the Arts Mural Project you can visit them at http://dcarts.dc.gov/page/muralsdc.
Photographing street murals is a fun project but there are some difficulties in getting a proper position for taking the photos. Sometimes there is not enough room even with a wide angle lens. This is further complicated by the height of the images. In some instances, street traffic restricts where you can stand. That said, this looks like a fun photo project. I have been amazed to learn about some of the many websites that feature mural street art all over the world. Pinterest has been very helpful in showing me many of these beautiful and interesting images.
C'est la vie 