Logan Circle

My fourth day of shooting was at Logan Circle, a little bit north of Washington's "downtown" area. Logan Circle lends its name to the surrounding residential area. Shooting in the early afternoon of a weekday in a residential area I guess it was not surprising that there were few folks at the circle. There was a small group of relatively young guys, seemingly down on their luck, and perhaps another half dozen folks enjoying the park singly or in pairs. As the afternoon went on more people passed through or lingered in the circle.
I felt a bit out of place, so to acclimate myself and get the folks in the circle used to my presence with a camera, I made a couple circuits of the park taking pictures of statues, flowers, and signs. After I started taking pictures of people, one of the young men told me in no uncertain terms that he did not want his picture taken, which I respected. I had actually been anticipating some resistance like this because in recent years Logan Circle has been the site of conflicts over public policy and neighborhood issues between the mostly young, mostly white, affluent newcomers who are remodeling and restoring the elegant Victorian row houses and the mostly older, mostly African-American longtime residents. The longtime residents feel that they are being priced out of what had been a traditional black middle class neighborhood and the neighborhood ambiance is being transformed in ways they do not like.
Nevertheless, I struck up conversations with several individuals and pairs of people in the park who agreed to let me take their pictures. The first two photos show a couple enjoying a break in the park and a pair of friends chewing the fat. The third shot illustrates the variety of people frequenting the park and provides a glimpse of the architecture around the circle.