Hustle and bustle: Capturing the street life in Washington, D.C.
November 23, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Red taxis zoom through the busy streets, honking noisily as drivers hurry during rush hour. Brisk winds creep underneath the scarves and coat sleeves of pedestrians roaming the streets of the city. Fall leaves drift to the ground, joining the layer of orange and yellow blanketing the sidewalk between the columns of trees.
While traveling to the nation’s capital to attend the JEA/NSPA Fall Journalism Convention, a national conference, Harker students and chaperones also toured the city, visiting different museums and monuments and photographing the day-to-day lives of locals and tourists.
The photo package below highlights our experiences in the city, both at tourist attractions and in the busy streets. This is the bustle of Washington, D.C.
TALON Editor-in-Chief Anthony Xu (12) and Gloria roll up the trolley’s plastic screen window to take photographs on the Monuments by Moonlight tour. On the tour, student journalists photographed many of Washington, D.C.’s monuments as well as the city’s landscapes after dark.
Red taxis line up at a stop light in front of the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The D.C. Taxicab Commission announced in May 2013 that the city’s taxis will be standardized as red with a gray stripe.
In the chilly D.C. morning air, a man sits on a bench at Dupont Circle with his bicycle by his side. A peaceful park surrounded by busy intersections, cafés and restaurants, Dupont Circle includes a fountain statue as well as benches, flower beds and walkways.
A Capital Bikeshare worker walks two bikes to a sharing station on New Hampshire Avenue NW. Tens of thousands of rental bikes and scooters populate the capital with multiple rideshare apps like Lime, Uber, Lyft or Byrd providing cheap transportation throughout the city.
Outside the Dupont Circle metro entrance, a rusty, bent bicycle sits in a bike rack on the sidewalk. Apart from the subway system, the D.C. Metro also runs a bus service with more frequent stops along the streets.
Subways on the red line of the D.C. Metro streak across after the latest stop at the Dupont Circle station. Each metro station consists of the same architectural structure: a wide arch filled with uniform square indentations.
A pedestrian waits to cross a busy intersection on Connecticut Ave NW near Dupont Circle. Seven students from Harker Journalism visited Dupont Circle as the first stop in their photo expedition.
A woman plays a ukulele outside the entrance of the Dupont Circle Metro Station. Student journalists had the opportunity to tour congressional offices and the Capitol buildings, where they conducted interviews of protesters and politicians.
A man reads the newspaper on a park bench at Dupont Circle. National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Hannah Allam led student journalists on a tour of the NPR studio based in Washington D.C.
Awake at night: D.C. monuments honor nation’s history
Students participated in a Monuments by Moonlight Tour of the capital’s monuments, visiting the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the Korean War memorial.
Against the dark sky of the city, monuments twinkle brightly, a constant reminder not only of the nation’s history but also a promise for the future.
United States Capitol. This building is home to both the House of Representatives and the Senate with the Statue of Freedom sitting atop the dome at 19.5 feet tall.
Washington Monument. In front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the Washington Monument is the tallest structure in the area, built to commemorate George Washington.
Jefferson Memorial. Built to commemorate the life of Thomas Jefferson, the building is currently undergoing construction to repair the roof and the stone and to return the shine that it once had.
Lincoln Memorial. Congress planned a tribute to Abraham Lincoln immediately after his assassination in 1865, but controversy and war delayed the opening of the memorial until 1922.
Lincoln Memorial. This statue of the late President Abraham Lincoln stands to honor him with a replica of him sitting on the chair where he was assassinated.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The 30 foot-tall, granite structure in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial illustrates a stone of hope, inspired by his “I Have a Dream” speech.
Korean War Veterans Memorial. Located southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and south of the Reflecting Pool, it depicts steel sculptures of American soldiers in action to honor the many soldiers who lost their lives in the Korean War.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The 450 foot-long Inscription Wall features 14 quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches, sermons and writings, honoring justice, democracy, hope and love.