This is Cassie sitting by the color print machine waiting for her print. She is the only other photojournalism student in Mr. Kim Stacy Kirkpatrick's Wednesday night color photography class. Tonight we all spent a lot of time waiting for prints to emerge from the machine. It was my first time using a color enlarger and I made a few simple mistakes. However, I was able to make a good enough print to move to the next assignment by the end of class. I have a good time in class. I remember that having a tangible photographic print is one of the reasons for photography.
Elizabeth Chacko, GWU associate professor of geography and international affairs spoke on the affect of the tsunami on development and public health issues during a discussion panel held Tuesday night. The gathering of panel experts from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs was entitled The Asian Tsunami: Political, Economic, and Social Implications. Chacko was the only one of the panel who was in the area of the tsunami at the time it struck. She was concerned with raising awareness about the emotional and psychological repercussions of the tsunami on women. Moderator and dean of the Elliott School, Harry Harding, summed up the situation by first drawing a connection between the night's sparse attendance and the tsunami's drop from the headlines. Harding said that although the problems have just begun the consequences will last for decades.
On my way home from class tonight I went to Chef's Express to get a small Hunan Chicken ($4.75). While I was carrying my dinner home I saw a vagrant man talking to himself beside a church. As I got closer I realized he was speaking in Chinese. As I got even closer he snapped out of his one-man theatrics and gestured me for a cigarette. When he realized I didn't smoke he went back to talking to himself. The way he was using his hands to talk you'd think he was Italian and not Chinese. When I snuck around the church to snap a picture of him I realized he was acting into the church's security camera. I was never able to find out if he was a Chinese National or not.
After hours of working in the fine arts studio today my friend mike suggested getting a bite to eat. We both had the unnatural urge to go to McDonald's to get a hamburger. When realizing that it was because we were listening to a McDonald's radio commercial, we both felt mentally violated like lab rats reacting to a formula. We opted for Burger King instead. Eating our hamburgers from the 2nd story window we watched the Burger King manager chase a vagrant from the store with a sawed-off mop stick. I said, "Burger King tastes worse than McDonald's." Mike agreed.
This is my old friend Karl. He was in the area for some Marine Corps training. He is a registered Democrat. I told Karl of my recent realization that the majority of the military is Republican. I concluded that if more Democrats enlisted they would have more of a say to what the military does.
Deep in the bowels of every art school there are almost always shops for carving stone and wood, and welding metal. This small sculpture class called "Light, Sound, and Motion" has enrolled at least three photographers.
I saw this four-car accident at 17th and Constitution NW between my classes today. I ran a few blocks to get there and snap some shots before it disappeared. I asked the salvage truck driver if I could hop on the truck for elevation. The police officer didn't hear me ask permission.
Tonight was my first color photography class with instructor Kim Kirkpatrick. We looked at some slides of examples for our first assignment tonight. I am sure this class will help me with my own digital photography.
For the most part fine art photographers seem to think about taking different pictures in different ways than most photojournalists. These are all fine art photography students in the hall at the Corcoran. The ability to use unadulterated creativity is their advantage over photojournalism students.
Some people put shoes on their dog's feet when it snows. I saw this dog leading his owner up 16th St near Meridian Hill Park.
Today I walked through the snow to the Corcoran Gallery to see the "Common Grounds" exhibit for the second time. The exhibit displays artwork spanning the last 150 years from communities around the world. I walked down to the WWII Memorial with my friend Don Starr to take some photos while there is snow. We tried walking across the reflecting pond by the Declaration of Independence Memorial: walked home with frozen pant legs.
