You're going to be hearing an awful lot about FotoWeek DC over the next ten days. The largest photography-focused event Washington has ever seen is taking over the city's entire art scene starting Monday, and the sheer amount of gallery shows, museum exhibits and special events connected to the effort is overwhelming, to say the least. But let's say you're curious to check out some of the photography on offer during FotoWeek, except you're not......

Emperor by Thomas Muller at Project 4" src="http://dcist.com/attachments/dcist_heather/2008_11_07_muller.jpg" width="338" height="249"/> Emperor by Thomas Muller at Project 4 D.C.'s art scene is gearing up for Fotoweek DC, as many galleries get a head start on the festivities by opening their photography exhibits this week. Take advantage of these shows now and you'll have room for more of all the photography goodness that's opening soon. >> The ever popular Hirshhorn After Hours brings Dan Deacon and......

Photo by out_on_an_island In case you hadn't heard, Union Station is celebrating 100 years this week, along with the 20th anniversary of its restoration in 1988. The AP trotted out a boilerplate history of the station to mark the occasion, and Amtrak is throwing what sounds like will be a nifty party this weekend. All the details about the event can be found here, but rail nerds should know that they'll be displaying a......

Mandara, Image courtesy of Lino Tagliapietra, Inc. Photo by Russell Johnson October at the Museums brings much photographic portraiture with a dash of holiday activity at the end of the month. Get your calendar out now so you don't miss a thing. >> Opening October 3, Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass is the first exhibition to thoroughly examine the art of Lino Tagliapietra, a master of glass blowing. Explore 140......

Yesterday, DCist got the chance to preview the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's new Sant Ocean Hall, which opens to the public this Saturday. Our photographer, Meaghan Gay, said "It really is a very cool space. I am kind of a museum freak, and this blows away the Natural History museum in NY, or the one in Vienna for that matter. This is a totally interactive space, with video touch screens all around." The musuem......

Another week, another creative break from the realities of our city. This time, barnesquared applied some of that language we've all rolled our eyes at on Craigslist a million times (because they're all listed for a million dollars) to create The Monument: Luxury Condominiums in the heart of D.C.. Got some spare time and a fun idea? Submit it to our rolling contest by tagging it with "touchupdc" in Flickr (please, do not also......

Our second selection from the Touch Up DC pool comes from Backward Bill. He's modified the inscription at the Dupont Metro (a Walt Whitman poem) to read "No Taxation Without Representation." It's a sentiment we don't think Mr. Whitman would object to — afterall, he did write poems like I Hear America Singing and Democratic Vistas. As a supporter of expression and democracy, we think a modern day Walt Whitman would probably support D.C.'s......

A few people have already started taking a spin around our Touch Up D.C. contest. On this rainy Friday, we've got our first impressive pick. We love Schodts' kaleidoscopic ode to public transportation and pandas, two of our very favorite things. Keep those submissions coming; there's no real deadline, we'll just post selections as they come in through September.......

In the ongoing saga of Union Station's confusion over their own photography rules, we have an update for you: nothing has happened. Last month, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Managment of the U.S. House of Representatives, held a hearing regarding those rules, listening to both reps from Union Station and photographer Erin McCann. During the hearing, Del. Norton soundly admonished Union Station managers handling......

We've chronicled photographer harassment in the D.C. area, most recently at Union Station, where amateur photogs have encountered great confusion as to who owns which portions of the station and shops, where those sections end, and what rules apply to photographers in each one. Tomorrow, the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Managment of the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, will try to find answers to those......

There is a strong correlation between math and art that is often forgotten. The golden ratio has been studied for centuries and has helped with aesthetics and composition in all aspects of art. Its use was widely adopted during the Renaissance period for those purposes and was also discovered in nature. Conspiracy theorists even ponder the layout of our fair city is due to one of the many formulas and geometric shapes that are......

Teacup by Kyoko Hamada, courtesy Randall Scott Gallery Friday marked the opening of 8 Photographers at Randall Scott, with previews of all eight artists’ work hung. Over the course of the next eight weeks, two photographers at a time will adorn the walls for two week spans, after which the walls will be refilled with the next pair of picture-takers. Gallery owner Scott did not pick these artists with a curatorial mission in mind,......

Starting in April of this year, artists Kristina Bilonick, Michael Matason, Jillian Pichocki, and Bryan Whitson, came together twice a week to discuss and develop new work as part of Transformer's The Exercises for Emerging Artists program. As a continuation of the program, Transformer has opened up the process to the public for comment and feedback in E5: Rangefinder. Launched in March 2004, The Exercises for Emerging Artists was created to support artists at......

>> Saturday, the Bobby Fisher Memorial Building, opens Girlish Ways: The Next Generation of Female Artists, a selection of twelve artists under the age of 35 who investigate how contemporary lifestyles affect and re-define the women of this generation. The exhibit explores youthful and mature concerns of the women involved, as well as how these women respond to their changing environments. See local graduates from American University, the Corcoran, and Towson graduate Lauren Bender,......

Just in time for D.C.'s hot, humid weather, Randall Scott Gallery presents photographs by Sarah Wilmer, who's work offers a cool, dewy refuge from the heat and humidity found on the city's streets. Wilmer's work consists of ethereal photographs of mystical characters that transport you to another time and place. To say they are fantastical storybook settings would be stating the obvious, but they are clearly enchanted. Her photographs consist of vivid greens and......

The National Portrait Gallery recently opened a pair of shows, Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer and Edward Steichen: Portraits, which combine to weave a single portrait of American cultural life in the early decades of the twentieth century. Though Steichen is the much better known photographer, Ben-Yusuf’s work is equally compelling, and together the two exhibitions portray a range of politicians, actors, writers, musicians and other important figures, giving us a glimpse back into......

In the 1970s, a survey in Russia found that the most well-known American in the country was Richard Nixon. Placing second on that list was Willis Conover, a man unknown to many Americans, but loved by millions around the globe as the jazz disc jockey for Voice of America. This was at a time when the world was flirting with self-annihilation, but even then, leaders in government realized that music and art can be a......

Exploring the themes of light, innovation and optimism, Into the Light, a juried exhibit now at Honfleur Gallery, brings together a well rounded group of talent that showcases various mediums, including photography, sculpture and installations. Artists Mark Planisek, Marie Cobb, Lynn Silverman, Craig Kraft, Emily Erb, Phil Stein, Joan Belmar, Cathlyn Newell and Kendall Nordin are all showcased. The exhibit is very dynamic as it presents the artists and their different media thoughtfully and uses......

After acquiring her first professional camera in 2006, Hatnim Lee has documented everyday scenes in a visual diary on her blog. Since then, she has found success in both the fine arts and as a commercial photographer, interning with David LaChapelle and having work featured in publications like Teen and DC Modern Luxury. Now at Transformer, a selection of Lee's vivid photographs over the past 2 years are on display. All of Lee's photographs are......

Pushing the envelope with mundane, everyday materials, Dan Steinhilber's show now at G Fine Art is a multidimensional and thought provoking exhibit. Steinhilber incorporates ordinary media to create a cohesive show where the images flow from one to the next and each element incorporates the last, sharing common themes. Packing peanuts, garbage bags and florescent light bulbs are cast in a new light with photography, sculpture, drawing and installation. The walls of the gallery display......

The tiny room that makes up Transformer gallery is currently displaying contrasting work by Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet that explores the ideas of absence and presence. The title of the show, Absence Presence, plainly explains the intent of the exhibition. Mostly known for his work in sound and recording, Chartier extends his minimal tendencies to his paintings found in Absence Presence. Chartier uses a process where simple line drawings are erased and then painted......

Though there are a lot of great photos in the pool today, this image taken at Haines Point of The Awakening by Brandon Jones seemed like the perfect shot to start off the new year. EXIF. Did you resolve to enter the DCist Exposed Photography Show this year? You only have 11 more days to submit your application and put your entries in the pool. And since it is the beginning of a new......

As we noted this morning, 80 percent of D.C. travelers will be headed out of the city by car, so we thought this photo by m hoek was especially appropriate for Photo of the Day today. If we go by his tags, it looks like this was taken with a medium format Diana clone toy camera. While you've got some time off for the holidays, take a minute to submit your application and entry......

The Air Force Memorial has a certain architectural elegance that makes it almost hard not to photograph well, but some certainly stand far above the others, and we especially like Flickr user mosely.brian's crisp version here. Did you miss our announcement on Wednesday? The DCist Exposed Photography Show contest is open and accepting entries for our 2008 exhibition. Not only might you get to show your original work on a real gallery wall at......

Last year we were blown away by how many folks participated in our very first DCist Exposed Photography Show. What we hoped would be a fun event for our faithful photography contributors turned into a full-blown gallery event packed to the gills with supporters. Many of the selected 2007 photographers -- most of whom had never even framed their work prior to the show -- have continued to sell their prints and some even......

Civil rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and others are gathering with supporters on Freedom Plaza at 10 a.m. this morning to march to the Justice Department in a "March Against Hate Crimes." NBC4 says that organizers hope the march will bring attention to racism and recent hate crimes against African Americans that have been popping up around the country. The march was also designed to bring attention to the Jena......

When we saw this photo in the DCist pool, it immediately reminded us of a particular favorite from another talented contributor, whose work hung in the first DCist Exposed Photography Show last March. This Holga triptych was taken by regular contributor akkleis, using some interesting angles on this statue. Obviously, this was taken with film, so there's no EXIF data. Speaking of DCist Exposed, our motors are starting to whirr behind the scenes to......

On Friday the Washington Post ran a story about the city's plans to step up their graffiti removal tasks after a recent rash of tagging in Wards 1, 2 and 4. The graffiti began appearing six to eight weeks ago, stretching from the Logan and Shaw neighborhoods to communities in upper Northwest along Georgia Avenue and 13th and 14th streets. Banneker Community Center near Howard University, under renovation, was among the places hit. But the......

We were happy, last week, to welcome Queen Elizabeth II to town. The trip was her first the colonies States in 16 years, the occassion a commemoration of the founding of the Jamestown settlement in 1607. Hundreds turned out for her appearance, demonstrating once again America's fascination with British royalty, despite throwing off the yoke of their rule over 200 years ago. Perhaps the American interest in the monarchy stems from wondering about what life......

One of only three art schools in the nation that are affiliated with a world-class museum, the Corcoran College of Art + Design is a powerhouse in the "art schools of America" roster, ranking high in the Princeton Review (but receiving a ‘C’ average among current pupils and alumni). Founded in 1890, the school is the District’s only four-year, fully-accredited college of art and design. The Corcoran Gallery of Art has finally dedicated a gallery......