the final product

the end is here, and it is on my new website, ryanscherding.com

go to the tab on the bottom of the page marked "documentary series" to see the final collection.

Cherry Blossom Festival-This Past Weekend

It has been a while but here it is, my first upload from the cherry blossom festival, the other events that i have already covered will be uploaded soon, but i think these are some of my strongest street,travel photos to date.

Production Schedule

February:
18-20: street photography in the district, focusing on the empty federal areas, and foggy bottom.
26-27 street photography, Dupont circle. arlington festival on the 26th.

March
13 St. Patrick's day parade, covering the event from the inside.


April
Eastern Market Opening
Behind the scenes at Arlington cemetary

these are the dates or general times i have thus far, i will be updating the list as i hear back form venues.

Research: working Documentary &photojournalist photographers

Here is a list of photographers whose work and processes have inspired me to look at the process of photography in new ways. they have very different styles, but they are united in their goal to look at depicting events in new ways.

http://www.milnorpictures.net

http://www.jeffjohnsonphoto.com/

http://webbery.com/wp/

http://www.shaulschwarz.com/

http://www.lightstalkers.org/rafal_gerszak

http://www.alextehrani.com/

Performance Media Proposal

Washington DC can be the most over-photographed and under-photographed

place on earth. Swarms of tourists pour into the cityʼs streets snapping an infinite number of photos of the cityʼs monuments, parks and government buildings. However life in the district is not solely confined to monuments and politics. The city presents for those who dig slightly deeper, a variety of scenes that are seemingly unrelated to the picturesque patriotism of the tourist areas. It has been suggested many times that Washington is merely a city of transplanted people, and does not have the cultural identity of most other metropolitan areas. However after living here for four years I have found that Washington has an identity. This identity is of a town that exists alongside tourism, government and transplanted people. It is a city whose local events are also national events. Where you can see a gridlocked street and an empty sidewalk and a homeless person sleeping across the street from the department of housing and urban development. This is the city that I hope to depict, through photographic stories that document the change from winter to spring, and the unique life of the city that exists within Washington DC.

My project will look at the Washington that isn't on the postcards. Not necessarily the negative aspects of life here, but the life of the city as I have experienced it. Each photographic story will highlight scenes that I have seen and would like to experience in greater depth. I plan to look at the vast differences between neighborhoods, creating aseries of urban landscapes. I plan to look at who lives here, and the variety of lifestyles within the city. I will explore the cityʼs events, and how a local event can also be a national event. I plan on showing these scenes as portraits, (urban) landscapes and documentary/photojournalistic style photographs.

This project is primarily an opportunity to develop new styles of photography that I have not had the opportunity to explore, such as documentary or urban landscapes. Most of my photography thus far has been landscape and portraiture, as these are subjects that I have found readily available. Looking at these subjects should present a new opportunity for me to photograph things that I normally wouldn't seek out. I have been looking at several prominent documentary photographersʼ work and processes so that I have some idea of what to do. By picking this subject I am forcing myself to look at the world around myself in a new way. For this project I will not always be looking for what is beautiful, but what tells a story.