Where I Shoot

I'VE TAKEN NEARLY all of the photos in my Close Ups project in Washington's K Street corridor, in an area bounded to the south by the White House, to the west by 17th Street, to the north by P Street, and to the east by 13th Street. K Street is the epicenter of Washington's lobbying industry and McPherson Square was the site of the Occupy K Street encampment in 2011-2012.

The neighborhood also has a wild side.14th Street between K Street and Thomas Circle is Washington's old red light district. Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry was arrested for smoking crack at the Vista International (now the Westin) on M Street. The Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue is where JFK kept his mistress Judith Exner, where New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer met with call girls, and where "Mayflower Madam" Sydney Biddle Barrows rose to fame. Rumor has it the two-story building on L Street between the Post Pub and the former DC Chartered Health Plan (which went bankrupt in connection with the political scandal involving former District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray) was a bordello.

#fujifilm #X100T #Washington #streetportraiture #KStreet #scandal #lobbying