Architectural Contrasts
There are many strange architectural contrasts in the DC area. The way the monuments and the national mall contrast the stocky buildings of downtown DC. The contrasts of Georgetown and the West End. The contrast of U Street to 16th Street Heights. But on a smaller scale, the are so many unique juxtapositions across the city.
On a recent walk from Ballston to Rosslyn, I was struck by the reminders of the way Northern Virginia has developed. The one and two-story buildings that used to dominate the neighborhood are being slowly supplanted by office and residential towers. In some cases, they are even being built on top of the previous structures.
The interesting contrasts are created by the bright blue roof of IHOP, the former Little Tavern - now Angolino Pizza. One of the more striking to my eye is the Seven-Eleven sitting next to the Bjarke Ingels-designed Heights Public School next to a generic residential building.
The destination of this walk was the Arlington Temple of the United Methodist Church. With the gas station situated underneath it, I’ve always been fascinated by this building. As its recently been announced that it will be facing the wrecking ball soon.
The above images are all shot on medium-format film using a Mamiya RZ 67 with the Sekkor 75mm Shift Lens. Portra 400 and T-Max 400 were loaded in on this walk and all developing and scanning was done by Boutique Film Lab.
