On a busy Wednesday afternoon, Homer Lange and I sipped coffee and flipped through his photo book – A Washington Collection After Dark. In it Homer captures stunning black and white images of Washington D.C monuments at night.
“In the mid 1950s I joined my Swiss high school’s camera club where I learned how to take black and white images, develop and print them using a manual 35 mm camera and lenses. Since then I have continued to try to keep up with the rapid changes in photography which has led me to embrace digital cameras and image editing.”
At five o’clock in the morning when the drunks had gone home and just before the morning commute, Homer set to work.
With a Nikon D3 and a Benro tripod he acquainted himself with both the architecture and D.C’s security. Apart from using the lowest ISO settings, 10 second shutter delay, manual lenses sweet spots, a photographer sometimes goes through great lengths to capture the perfect shot and for Homer it meant setting up his tripod on the top floor of the Hay Adams hotel. The hotel in turn had to tell the White House secret service not to shoot him while he took the image of the White House, Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial.
From the White House to the Arlington cemetery, Homer creates a unique body of work. He captures D.C’s monuments from a different angle – without moving objects. Stripped of its leaves and color one takes a second glance at the strong architecture in Washington D.C. a process that took two years to complete.
When asked what sparked off this project? Homer said “It was the Vietnam memorial and the over 58,000 names that shouldn’t have been there. Some of my friends are still in Vietnam – buried.”
With inspiration from photographers like Pete Myers (Santa Fey Pete), Homer brings D.C monuments to life. Enjoy the video slide show.
Happy New Year!!
