Hidden Washington

ANS has been busy lately. Our Archive Division has been reformatting old images from it's photo Imaging Department and posting them onto our Flickr account. At some point this series was discovered by local Washington DC residents and given favorable reviews on a local Blog or two. We are pleased to report that so far our Flickr account has received over 400,000 hits as a response. Here are a sampling of some of the images found in the set "Hidden Washington".

6th and K Auto Market

Lennox Motor Company

Atlas Theater H Street NE

Downtown Motel

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

The Earth

History in Photodocumentation

Starting almost 25 years ago our photo imaging division began a documentary photo project creating images of people, places and things that seemed at the time to be relics of a bygone era that neede to be documented for the future. How quaint it seems today to think that you do something that will be more relevant 20 years into the future than it does in the contemporary. But that is how we thought back then. We saw a fading world but were not sure what it meant. Now we know--it is the faded glory of America. A common theme here at ANS. We presentbelow a sample of our work:

Continental Federal Building-demolished

Clarendon Motor Court-Demolished

Joyce Motors-Still in business (68 years)

Who's got it?

Dart's Got it!

Sanction Video

Another fine product from the vaults. Someone had to post it. Courtesy FBC Inc.

Sgt. Rock

I'd almost give my whole bronze age superhero comic collection for this comic.

Dutch Typography

The Standard was on a field trip to the Netherlands. A full report is forthcoming. Meanwhile, here are some samples of dutch typography and signage.

Hot Dog Cart, NYC 1988

The advent of digital photography means that image making is more prevalent than ever before. We at ANS are concerned that in the flood of digital imagery viewers are saturated by the wealth of images and that meaning of images and why they exist are getting lost in the shuffle. We make no claim to "meaning" in the above image. Our investigation of the photographer has revealed that he merely passed by this scene in New York City somewhere in the Lower Manhattan area and took this image with a Nikon FM2 camera on Kodachrome transparency film in 1988.

No deeper meaning at the time than "something caught my eye so I took the picture". In 1988 the act of taking such a picture was deliberate, and the technology available then to convey it to a viewer was difficult and expensive. Only a small percentage of images such as this made it to a viewer. Usually through a vetting process for exhibit purposes. Thus a viewer was unlikely to see this image, and as a matter of fact they didn't until now.

So what is the value of this casual seeming and supposedly randomly created image. Well, it was not randomly created but certainly deliberately casual in intent. In 1988 it was not so common for amateur photographers to take images of random and non specific street scenes, with an intention for the composition and focal point to appear "casual" or non-deliberate. Thus that is the meaning and intent of this image and the point of this post.

Superfly

Superfly, 1987 Federalington, WC

Back when we were young earnest street photographers we prowled the urban environment for any sign of interesting subjects. It was like hunting for elusive prey. Often we would spy upon some interesting denizen or two but were too timid to approach them for a photograph. Sometimes the scene was too risky. However, as depicted here the desire to be photographed met the desire to photograph. This gentleman had just walked out of a store and feeling good about his apparel and seeing Mr. Ed Porter with a camera asked to have his picture taken. This photo has never been published until now.

Super-8 Constructions

A field report fresh from the research labs. Query: how best to repurpose imagery trapped in dangerously soon to be obsolete information technology. Case in point: Super 8mm film. Each frame is in itself valuable and informative, when strung together in a sequence at 18 frames per second-the human visual perception system interprets a moving image.

Diametric Blues

The story of living down and out in washington DC in the '80's. A montage of street photography by the Kinorama Imaging Division and Music by Lee Hiway Productions. Winter 2010

follow up to...

Kinorama says:

BTW--its in Philadelphia
Posted 11 hours ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )

dullshick says:

Aha! Thanks for the thoughtful reply. We certainly share an interest in the "built" landscape, but I'm hopelessly wrapped up in particulars. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm fixated on the physical place because I'm interested in the people - Who built/used/adapted/abandoned this unique structure? Where did they go? Who lives here (or near here) now? Who will use (or flatten) it in the future? Anyway, thanks again for the compelling images...
Posted 3 hours ago. ( permalink | delete )

Kinorama says:

Again, thank you for your thoughtful comments. It means a lot to me because up until the advent of things like flickr, much of my work never gets seen.

I am thankful that my image triggered the thoughts that you expressed because, those were mine too but they occurred in the span of the moment when I first captured the image while in the physical environment.

Later on when this series started to gel for me I started to ask the very questions you raise about who, what, when, what will happen. I hate to take credit, but often my camera destroys places that I photograph. Or put in another way I (like many other photographers working in this genre) perceive fragile or transitional subjects and capture them before the inevitable wrecking ball of entropy comes along. I used to bewail the demise of things like interesting signs buildings, etc. Now with the internet, online photo collections, the ubiquity of digital "everyman" is a photographer--I am free to move on to other problems. Thus my desire to push the "Hidden Washington" series out of my archives and into cyber space.

The reason why I resist explaining geographical locations for this body of work is that I am in a struggle to wrestle my photography out of the realm of depictions of specific things and into allowing specific things be the voice for something deeper.

That is why I am so grateful for your comments because you have allowed me to understand where I need to go next through this process of explaining my process.

Your statement "'...I'm fixated on the physical place because I'm interested in the people - Who built/used/adapted/abandoned this unique structure? Where did they go? Who lives here (or near here) now? Who will use (or flatten) it in the future?" expresses exactly what I am working on, but have not had the words until now.

More Conversation

dullshick says:

Where is this? This isn't DC, is it?
Posted 2 days ago. ( permalink | delete )

Kinorama says:

Thank you for your interest in my work. I understand your desire to know where this is, but that is not the right question. Knowing the physical location will form an image in your rational mind and keep you from "seeing" the image I created. It is like the difference between hearing and listening. The answer is in the title.
Posted 24 hours ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )

dullshick says:

Fair enough. I'm not much for listening, but I do like interesting pictures - particularly of DC buildings, which is something you seem to have a knack for. Anyway, it's a fascinating picture (whether or not the structure itself is or was in DC).
Posted 19 hours ago. ( permalink | delete )

Kinorama says:

Thank you for your question. I understand where it comes from, and your question is one I get a lot for this series of work. Perhaps my answer sounds a little flip, but I have thought alot about your question. It is akin to asking someone "How are you?"--a way to broker the space between two strangers to allow further engagement.

The question: "Where is it", leads to the question "what is it about"--and that is what I am exploring. I find spaces and places such as this one in every city, so for me physical location is secondary. Except, the series "Hidden DC" that attracted your attention--those images are my first serious photographic work, and it was consciously documentary with an aim to presenting the subject matter 20 years in the future. I purposely photographed subjects that were nostalgic, historic, or appeared to be so.

This work here is the byproduct of a psuedo historic--documentary style that purposly evokes time and place while trying to be universal to the range of the american urban landscape.
Posted a moment ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )

One Year Anniversary

Industrial Church

A Flickr question: Where is this? This isn't DC, is it?
I said: Thank you for your interest in my work. I understand your desire to know where this is, but that is not the right question. Knowing the physical location will form an image in your rational mind and keep you from "seeing" the image I created. It is like the difference between hearing and listening. The answer is in the title.

FBC Rapid Response Truck

As a Subsidiary of the massive global conglomerate FBC, the American National Standard stands ready at a moment's notice to launch into action with our fleet of Rapid Response Units.

Deep Archives Project

Above: Kinorama Imaging Department, ca. 1988

(due to lack of finances the FBC Real Estate Division was

never able to purchase this building. However we claim

virtual ownership of this edifice by right of having

photographed it before its destruction)

Dear Patrons,

The Kinorama Imaging Division is pleased to announce the initiation of the Deep Archive Project. Our Aim is to present the fruit of over 25 years imaging documentation by Mr. Ed Porter. Thanks to innovations and structures present in today's internet environment we feel that the time is right to engage in a scanning project to dig deep into the substantial image resources stored in the Kinorama Image Archive.

We face a time and attention challenge to sustain this initiative to its conclusion. However, there is a wealth of unpublished images in the archives that thanks to the capacity of online presentation, we feel that the time is now to bring these images to a greater audience. In the past only a select few of "fine art" images have been offered to the public in gallery of exhibition settings. The forum for presentation of this initiative will be the online photography site on Flickr.

Bob Peck Chevrolet

A landmark commercial architectural statement for many decades. Located in Parkington County Virginia, just outside the small hamlet of Ballston Common. We believe this image to be taken in the early morning dawn hours due to its overall cool blue lighting and general camera shakiness.

Comic books

Ok we need to talk comic books. A juvenile pastime that often turns to an obsession. Then typically they are left in storage at the parents house and left to rot until early midlife kicks in and we rediscover our youth. Then what do we do with them? They are made of cheap unsustainable materials which fade and disintegrate with time. But they have this great look and feel to them--and that old comic smell is indescribable. A favorite memory of Ed Porter is of going to the Key Bridge news stand and talking with Lobo about the latest comics.

Little Tavern

You could buy them by the bag--those little greasy monstrocities. Why are some of the coolest things so bad for you?

GC Murphy Building

Little did you know that the American National Standard anticipated the internet 20 years ago and had set out teams of photodocumentarians who scoured the streets of Washington DC to record the fading world of the past for future consumption. Our lead photographer Ed Porter took this shot of the GC Murphy building near 9th and G streets NW Washington DC in 1986. As is typical with this type of photography, the GC Murphy store closed not long after this image was taken.

A Poem

Ending then

now Suddenly today

After all these years

I see the way

A wet street night

In a cold city

Longago commercial core

Reduced to decay

From the second story

Steaming broken watermain

Only the footsteps of before

Paved the way

Counter stroke

Our friends at the Report have us on the ropes with their expert banzai charge. We had to dig deep into our well of knowledge of our favorite visual artists. We present here a mash of painters from the top: Charles Sheeler, Fritz Scholder, Georges Di Chirico, Sigmar Polke, Roger Brown, and Ralston Crawford. Maybe not the most well known painters, but they have all had a significant impact on the creative efforts of the ANS image department.

Return Fire

We admit that our nasty little sneak attack upon the unwitting Otto Mannix Report was an attempt to overwhelm the Report's Art History Department with a counter gallery of our own. Fair enough, the Report's response has got us off guard and this return fire is an attempt to buy time while we reach into our wheelhouse. To make this a fair fight we propose that we limit our exchanges to 20th century Painting and Sculpture. And then we escalate from there!

Extinction of Useless Lights

Yves Tanguy

Mural Painting

Fernand Léger

Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale

Max Ernst

Composition

El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941)

Front and back covers of the magazine Novyi Lef (New Left), no. 9. 1928.
Letterpress; Overall: 9 1/16 x 11 3/4" (23 x 29.8 cm).

Theo Van Doesburg

Everyday Traffic

We start the new year with fresh ideas and new horizons.