No Place To Hide
Submitted by My Viewfinder Blog
You can’t hide the Washington Monument. As the tallest structure in the District of Columbia, it can be seen from almost anywhere in town. It can almost be a metaphor for the high visibility of the modern presidency. Since the advent of television and the electronic media, hardly anything the President does or says can escape the notice and scrutiny of the public. Some presidents have used that fact to their advantage; to others, it became a decided pitfall.
Because the Washington Monument can be seen from so many places, it gives the photographer opportunities to try unique framing and perspectives. Avoiding cliche photographs of this monument is difficult, but it can be fun and challenging to try. This photo was made from near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial last April. It’s one of a few distant locations that offer an unobstructed view (except for a few trees) of the entire monument. The hard part was waiting for my frame to be clear of the many people visiting the park that day. I overlayed a closeup photo of a scrubbing pad on top of my photo, and then reduced the opacity to simulate a printing technique used by photographer Doug Van de Zande. I don’t know how visible that will be at this resolution I use for the posting on the web. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
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Did I say that?
“For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result.”
Barack Obama
Acceptance Speech
Democratic National Convention
Denver, CO
August 28, 2008
