d.c. street sounds by Cam Napier
In the Spring of 2020, I struggled greatly to adapt to the new norms set out by the dawn of a pandemic. It was no longer possible for me to work in a studio with other musicians or rehearse with a band and play live shows. One of my greatest sources of mental stress relief seemed to have vanished. In the partial absence of one artistic passion blossomed another. Inspired by the works of Andre D. Wagner (@photodre), I decided that photography could be a meaningful and realistic artform to pursue given my now limited access to music production. Andre’s photography captures the lyrical nuances of everyday street life and turns what seem like ordinary scenes into extraordinary photos. This idea is something I’ve used to compel my own photography. In a pandemic, sometimes the only thing I could do was walk around my neighborhood or explore the city. Slowing down to take in the aesthetic of a church, a patch of flowers, or a row of houses and capturing a permanent image of that moment is what I appreciate the most about photography. Photography has shown me that it is possible to make art out of what we experience in life every day, even during a pandemic.
The 8 images I have chosen to exhibit are from a trip to Washington, D.C. They are from one of my walks where I searched out extraordinary in the ordinary. I wanted to capture the character of the neighborhood I was in, Georgetown, D.C., and a color-palette unique to the time of day I visited and the season of the year it was in, Spring. Another source for inspiration in these pictures and my life at the time was the underground alternative music scene in D.C. I have made a playlist on Spotify titled “d.c. street sounds” including all of the D.C. music I was listening to at the time. All images are captured on 35mm film on an Olympus OM-2 camera with a 50mm Zuiko lens.
A better look at Cam’s photography
Smokestack
Shadow Portrait
Rideshare
Chapel Faced by Light
Healy Hall
Cast Iron Flower Petal
Untitled
Jennifer by Grace Files
Jennifer. Pen and digital art. 2020.
Visions by Mia Travis
Visions. Mia Travis. Colored pencil. 2020. 8x5”.
Whole Lot of Redd by K'nori Bone
Digital art and collage. 2020.
Elise by Abigail Smack
Photoshop. 2019.
Vecchio by Abigail Smack
Photoshop. 2017