Dupont Circle

For my second week shooting, I went to Dupont Circle, the largest traffic circle in the District of Columbia, known as a crossroads for many demographic groups and various kinds of highbrow and lowbrow culture. Once again, I arrived too early on too cold a day. There were very few people hanging out at the circle. The few who were there seemed to have just come from an overnight shelter to stake out a spot on a bench for the day or they were hustling to work. The vast majority of people walking through the circle were plugged into a cell phone or an I-Pod (or both.) Who says it's hard to connect with other human beings? It's easy, as long as there's an electronic device involved! Just don't ask us to take off our headphones!

The two shots here juxtapose a street person who obviously does not want to be bothered by anyone and a tourist family, fortified at the nearest Starbucks, making its own little parade through the circle.