Getting Down in D.C. with the Fellows

After 4 action packed days in New York it was time to leave the big apple and head towards the nations capital, Washington D.C. I had been there before so I thought it would be a let down after New York but I had so much fun. There are 22 Foundation Fellows in my class and I ashamed to say that I hadn't really gotten to know most of them that well before this trip, but that all changed by the time we got to D.C. I have always thought that traveling with people aids relationship building and this was certainly true in this case. Perfect timing, considering we will all be studying at Oxford together this summer.

City Romps

Have you ever walked by one of those neighborhood watch signs and realized that you were dressed exactly the same as the suspicious man they warn against? I have!

This is what Bobby looks like all the time.

Oh this was just priceless! Alex got food poisoning during the trip and threw up outside the Old Abbit Grill. The legs belong to Trey, who like any good gentleman would have, stood there to make sure no one stepped in it by mistake.

How sexy is that Phoeny Li?

FDR

Tracy got mad love for Eleanor Roos.


The Capitol

Seeing this girl was a highlight of my trip. Siggi also spent a year in Germany as a Congress Bundestag Scholar in 06/07 and I hadn't seen her since last year in Berlin. She is originally from D.C. and works as a secretary in on of the Florida congressional offices. Crazy people are always calling her up and chewing her out over the phone, when they don't like what their representitive does - that's what was happening as I shot this picture.

You may notice I didn't even have a picture of the Capitol building itself under this heading but that is for the same reason I didn't post many pictures from Manhattan - it's almost impossible to take an original picture of it.

The Library of Congress

The Library of Congress serves as the national library of the United States as well as the research arm of the U.S. Congress. It ranks as the worlds largest library by shelf space and is recognized as one of the most important libraries in the world. Its collections span more than 30 million catalogued books in 470 languages, more than 58 million manuscripts, and the largest rare book collection in North America, including a Gutenberg Bible. Needless to say it was pretty sweet and even though we just dropped in for a visit, I was able to snap some nice shots before we left.

Panel with Washington Lobbyist for UGA

Somehow, sweet little Anne doesn't look so innocent here - I don't know what it is

I feel like this shot captures the inner Rachel

It may seem like all we did was tour around but we actually spent most of our time conducting panels with such Washington notables such as Paul Begala from CNN and Johnny Isaacson, a Georgia Senator. Generally I wouldn't take photos during a conference for courtesy's sake but we arrived at this one a few minutes early and I was thankful for the chance to take a few candids of us in action.

The Subway:


The National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery was one of the big surprises D.C. had to offer. I do like art galleries but this one was great, featuring mostly images of famous Americans. Even so, I enjoyed the modern art section the most, especially the Chuck Close portrait as seen above.

Scientology

The church of Scientology was founded in Washington D.C. by Elron Hubbard and the original church was founded in the dupont circle a few blocks away from where we were staying. Surprised? Well I was as I walked by the founding church and exclaimed, "No way." Seconds later, and I kid you not, a wierd dude practically jumped out of the bushes, responding, "Yes way!" and promptly steered us into their church to teach us about their religion/cult. Lets just say we were glad when we were finally able to leave. During my three days in D.C. I managed to have a few dubious encounters with the scientologists themselves and those who are against them. The pictures above show a group of masked protesters, campaigning against the tax free status granted to the Church of Scientology by the U.S. government. Apparently, I was at great risk taking these photos, as I was informed by their leader - they were somehow expecting an attack from Scientology's kid army, and besides, it is dangerous to be seen with them. They warned me that my future career and even my saftey was at stake by being seen in public at their protest. In the end, I was forced to come to the conclusion that I should avoid ANYONE who gives a rip either way about the Church of Scientology! Good times...

New York: The City that Never Sleeps

New York is an amazing place - a photographer's dream. I had never been there before but Spring Break '08 offered the perfect opportunity to see the city, the way it was meant to be seen: VIP! The Foundation Fellowship (my scholarship) pays for a trip over spring break every year of college. The trip for first years is domestic and the same every year - New York and Washington DC, the nation's financial and political capitals. On the agenda for New York were the Broadway Shows, Spring Awakening and Young Frankenstein, the Met, the NYSE, and meetings with Susan Waltman, the Senior VP of the Greater New York Hospital Association, and a panel with FF Alum working in Finance in New York - all in 4 days. You've all heard the phrase, "New York is the city that never sleeps," a condition that I now fully understand. We did so much and slept so little (less than 12 hours in 4 nights) but I'll spare you the details and just start into the photos.

Manhattan:

Manhattan was actually one of the my least favorite areas of New York. It was incredible to walk through the city and see the hustle and bustle firsthand, but it lacked the sort of vibe I got from some of the other neighborhoods I visited, like Harlem and Brooklyn. You would think that it would offer a myriad of subjects for my photography but I just didn't see as many interesting things in Manhattan. I think the media and New York's status as a tourist mecca ruined it for me. Despite never having been there, I already knew what time square looked like, and consequentially I felt like I was just taking pictures of postcards, each time I flipped on my camera and began to look through the lens.

Harlem

Harlem rocked. I wasn't really sure what to expect but it was one of the most eclectic and interesting of the places I saw, from the people to the buildings, and even the stores. You get a certain feeling walking through the streets, that is somewhat hard to describe. It's very organic, and very real. Still I felt somewhat out of place there and my camera attracted the attention of just about everyone I passed.

Brooklyn:

Ok so none of these photos were taken from the heart of Brooklyn, rather from the bridge. If there is anything that I regret from my time in New York, it would have been that I didn't get enough time to spend there. The bottom picture shows Sheena and I from the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Bronx

I felt like the Bronx was the craziest place I went to in New York. It may have been the only place I felt somewhat uneasy walking around (it was getting dark). Still the community there was awesome. I was there with Alex Squires, and we heard a string of hilarious conversations culminating in what has to be the catch phrase of trip and please excuse the profanity:

"There was two niggas and a bitch!"

That's all we got... Do you want to know the rest of the story? I wouldn't mind finding out myself.

Central Park

Central Park was another one of my favorite things about NYC. One morning we woke up around 5:45 to see the sunrise over Manhattan from the park and a large portion of the photos under this heading were taken then. If I lived in New York, I would wake up at least once a week to see the the sunrise there.

The Subway

I love subways. You see the most interesting people on them, even though I don't always feel comfortable taking pictures. The first picture under this heading is one of the most powerful images I took in New York. This man was one of the most pitiful sad looking people I have ever seen. I paid him a few bucks to take his picture and I think it turned out well for both of us. The last two people are Jere Morehead, the Vice President of Instruction, and Jessica Hunt, the UGA major scholarships coordinator, who led our trip.

Ads/Billboards

Every big city has a lot of amusing advertisements and billboards but I found New York to have a particularily interesting array of posted materials.

Hotel Room Fun

Well, if we didn't sleep in New York, what were the hotel rooms for? Well, all sorts of things is the answer as you can see here.

St. Patricks Cathedral

After seeing so many Cathedrals last year in Germany, I wasn't that excited to see one in New York, but I got some nice shots out of the deal. The last picture wasn't actually taken in the cathedral (I hope that was clear!) but it was right next to it and I liked the picture so there!

The Met

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) is one of the worlds largest art galleries, featuring over 2 million works of art. As of 2007, the Met measures almost a quarter mile long and occupies more than two million square feet, which is more than 20 times the size of the original 1880 building. Needless to say, we didn't get to all of it, but it was worth the visit, especially, fo free.

The New York Stock Exchange

We were lucky enough to get into the NYSE, the worlds largest stock exchange by dollar volume. After merging with Euronext, the NYSE went electronic in 2007. While more efficient for the brokers, the floor is no longer full of traders screaming and throwing paper. In all honesty, it would have been pretty boring to watch except that I was busy (covertly) trying to take photos.

Audience with Costume Designer, William Ivey Long

Although we spent a good portion of our time focusing on the financial sector, we also made time to see many of the cultural aspects of New York. On our final full day in New York we visited the home and studio of five time Tony Award winning costume designer William Ivey Long. He has designed the costumes for numerous broadway works including Hairspray, Chicago, The Producers, and Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein which we saw during our stay. The beaded caps you see modeled by our lovely Geales Goodwin and myself were used in the producers - do you recognize the scene?