Mekbib Gebertsadik

I recently photographed the exceptional Ethiopian-born artist, Mekbib Gebertsadik, for the Columbia Pike Photographic Documentary Project. He has a degree from an art college in Addis Ababa, and is currently pursuing his MFA at Howard University. He arrived in Arlington seven years ago, part of the large Ethiopian community that has settled in the Washington DC area. His parents, Wodajo Gebretsadik Worke and Tadesech Tafferi Wube, just arrived in the United States one month ago.

Mekbib's website, which also highlights the work of his wife, painter Meseret Desta is:
www.artmesk.com

Halloween Mischief

Ruth & I went to an annual Halloween party hosted by Nadine Bloch and friends, this year at Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center.

Fun.

Scariest costume in my opinion? Sarah Palin.

At least Senator McCain didn't nominate Eva Braun to be his running mate, though his campaign appears to be descending into the dark realm of the dead.

American Investigation, again. Lewistown PA Steelworker bar

Ruth, her mother Martha, and I visited Marjorie in Lewistown this weekend.
Marjorie lives across the road from Standard Steel, the oldest continually-operating steel mill in America. Just outside the gates of this aged but still productive plant, stands a gritty, time-weathered bar, The Steelworker.

As Frank Zappa once aptly noted in song, "America drinks and goes home."

L'Chaim y'all.

The Many Faces of Eve/dolls/artist

My friend, artist Eve Hennessa, has a drawer filled with interesting antique dolls that she has collected since childhood.
So- we laid them on the floor, and on Eve.

To see. And have fun.

Faces. Real, imagined, and imagined some more.

Eve has recently been working with a crew painting a huge street mural on 14th Street and Chapin NW, in Washington, DC.

Image. Eyes. Open. And more images.

Tattoo/Jae/Jewish

I recently encountered a young person from Indianapolis, who just had an arm tattoo inked the night before. Jae Truesdell (Kasle) told me that it was a symbol of personal heritage, symbolizing and uniting the two triangles the nazis used to mark "asocial" people and Jews for identification and persecution.

Many layers, many meanings, many issues.

Washington Vultures

Three vultures landed on a balcony near where I was working yesterday. Quite a phenomenon.

Behind this lone vulture looms the Dome of the United States Capitol.

I wonder which lobbying firm they work for?

CRI: Children's Research Institute

These images are from a session yesterday at the Children's Research Institute, an internationally-respected medical laboratory in Washington DC associated with Children's National Medical Center.

The process of science, though guided by logic at its very essence, still produces what I experience as miracles- inducing a profound sense of marvel and awe in me.

I worked on this annual report project with inspired art director Jeanne Wagner, and the talented members of the Public Relations team at Children's Hospital.

All photographs are ©2008 Lloyd Wolf, all rights reserved, and may be used only with the written permission of both the photographer and authorized representatives of Children's National Medical Center.

Barack Obama

I offer these photographs I made of Barack Obama, in honor of his historic nomination to the presidency tonight, which coincides with the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther KIng Jr.'s "I have a Dream" address to our nation.

The photographs were taken a while back at a relatively informal talk the Senator made in the Capitol to a group I was covering.

I found his manner and message to be uplifting, gracious, capable, genuine, engaging, and brilliant. I still feel that way.

Portrait of a young woman with an El Greco

I photographed this young woman, a staff employee of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, near the El Greco painting, "The Repentant St. Peter."

At the moment of exposure, she was unaware of my actions; it was completely unposed.

I was documenting a reception for the Diebenkorn/Brett Weston opening at the museum in June.

Sometimes... the light...

Columbia Pike Photographic Documentary Project- new work

This new work is part of the ongoing project I am doing on the Columbia Pike neighborhood in south Arlington, Virginia, near where I live. I am collaborating with two other sensitive and capable photographers, Xang Mimi Ho and Paula Endo. Mimi and I recently spent time documenting people and places we found compelling and indicative of the Pike's blend of character.

Right now, the area along Columbia Pike is among the most ethnically-diverse locations on earth. It is a magnet for new immigrants from every compass point, mixed together with old Arlington, the remnants of pre-strip mall and condo culture, and the large transient population that comes to sojourn here in the shadow of the federal government.

As Columbia Pike is currently undergoing rapid and aggressive gentrification, much of this vibrant melange of peoples will likely begin to lose its particularly blend of pungencies.

So- a bit of what I see, here, now.