The Mount Pleasant Project

     March, 2006

Perhaps the hardest things to document are those which are ephemeral — while an object can be photographed and painted, drawn and described as long as its physical form remains, creating a portrait of something both changing and intangible is a different task altogether. 

While it may be a straightforward process to photograph a place or thing, after living in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C., for six years, I wanted to create a portrait of a community. The plan was to document life in Mount Pleasant, because I saw the neighborhood on the verge of change.

While the community is diverse, vibrant and independent, recent years have brought change to the area. Smaller businesses seem to have had trouble staying afloat and housing prices are forcing lower income families out of the area. Day laborers look for work just blocks from homes that sell for over $1 million. A new development in neighboring Columbia Heights will bring a Target and Linens 'n Things to the area, competing with independently-owned retailers in Mount Pleasant.

Change, of course, is inevitable – as perhaps it should be. And so I hope this project, these images, capture a portrait of the Mount Pleasant community as a place on the verge of change and struggling to retain its identity.