inauguration

Flashback to January 2021 in Washington DC. At the time, I had no idea things would change so much around the city. The new year started off quiet but there was a buzz around the city with the upcoming inauguration. What was it going to be like with COVID? We had already watched the Inauguration flags and setup starting months prior, were people going to be allowed to attend? How would they regulate the crowd?

However, on January 6th protestors stormed the US Capitol in an event as we had never seen before. My eyes were glued to the television screen and my jaw on the floor as to how this could all have happened. It left a feeling of uncertainty, disbelief, and overall tension in the city. I was planning on going downtown later that evening to work on a photo project, but with the storming of the Capitol, that would not have been possible. So I made the plan to head down first thing the next morning. After I was done taking pictures for the project, I could not help but to drive around the US Capitol to see what it looked like.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours at this location photographing the sunrise, sunset, lighting strikes, past inaugurations, attended photo walks, and created some great memories on the grounds. I just could not believe how different it looked after one day. As I was driving around, I remember seeing trucks transporting the fencing to the US Capitol. This was going to be the last time I see the US Capitol so open and without fencing in a long time.

Monday, January 18th I found myself taking a little walk around in the same place. Just two days before the Presidential Inauguration, this was definitely not the US Capitol I was used to. I remember parking my car and sitting there for a while, very hesitant to get out. I was scared to see what it looked like and to feel the energy.

The fencing was up and National Guard was everywhere. It blocked off so many streets that I was looking at maps to see exactly where was I was relative to the Capitol Building. It was the eeriest feeling I’ve ever had taking pictures around Washington DC.

Barb wire ontop of the fencing started to appear

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This past Saturday, I attended my first ‘real’ demonstration. I say real demonstration because I was also attended the presidential inauguration last year.  I dunno if that counts or not but I’m counting it as a half because it was sort like half an inauguration half a protest.  And exactly one year later, I’m at the DC Women’s March of 2018.

I didn’t really know what to expect since this was my first real one. With my experience last year at the inauguration I just knew I wanted to go early, wear good walking shoes and stay warm. Luckily the weather was beautiful this past weekend and the perfect day to celebrate women.

So here are a few of the images I captured at the DC Women’s March 2018:

I did it! I walked on the reflecting pool! Until I heard a slight crack noise and I was gone at the blink of an eye.

Participants in the Women’s March near the Reflecting Pool

From the top of the Lincoln Memorial stairs

to the bottom of the steps. It was undeniable that these people wanted their voices heard.

Standing tall, even in trees.

As the day went on, more and more people braved the icy reflecting pool.  But with 60 degree temperatures, it was melting fast. I even saw a couple of people fall through the cracks.

There was even a guy with his bike on the frozen water.

Overall I left the demonstration feeling proud to be a woman. I feel like there’s nothing that I can’t do and no one is going to tell me otherwise. It gave me more motivation to want to accomplish my goals and make my stamp on the world. I heard there were over 10,000 people in attendance and I’m honored that I was one of them.

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Sometimes waking up early can be a struggle. The night before I took this, I was out to dinner with a few of my girlfriends. We were having so much fun catching up that we ended up staying out later than we usually would of so that meant I went to bed later than I usually do. Before we even went to bed, Andrew asked if I was going to wake up for sunrise. I said “I’m going to wake up and check the weather”. Well the next morning the app on my phone said it was mostly cloudy (usually great weather for photos) but I sooo did not want to wake up. I was tired and because the weather channel app also said it was 29 degrees out, I double did not want to wake up. After about 20 minutes of laying there and pretending like I was looking at important stuff on instagram and my email, I finally rolled out of bed, put on two pairs of pants, 3 top layers and off to the city I went. I decided to go to the US Capitol because I felt like I haven’t been there for a long time. With the inauguration last month, that place was pretty crowded with construction and people for about 3 months prior.

Once I arrived at the Capitol, it seemed like all the cold air went away. All the sleepiness went away. And I just felt pure excitement. The pink started to really show through the clouds and the air was so still that the reflection in the reflecting pool was perfect. I’m so glad I got there early because by the time I drove home the skies had turned grey. Overall, timing was perfect for the pink sunrise and the clouds were perfect for a nap afterwards 🙂

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sunrise of inauguration morning from Union Station

I make a conscious effort to not talk about politics and/or religion. Especially to people I don’t know very well but even more so on the internet. These are two subjects are ones that people feel very passionately about and theres never a right or wrong answer. It always ends up in arguments. But living in the DC metro area, it was pretty impossible to do that this past weekend. So when the opportunity to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump came up, I took it. 

To be honest, I had never attended an inauguration before and had no idea what to expect. I just knew that this one was going to be especially interesting. I woke up extra early, stepped out of my comfort zone and practiced my street photography. I also filmed a short video at the very end.

So here it is, what I saw on Inauguration day 2017.

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Walking out of the Union Station I saw the first protest. Several crowds of people stood by the fountain.

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Each protesting in their own ways.

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As we got closer to the entrance, the protests got louder

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Inside the Silver gate

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People crowded the tv screens

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and a lot of space everywhere else

The sights and sounds of the 2017 Presidential Inauguration:

The US Captiol on the weekend of the 2013 Inauguration

In preparation for the 2013 Inauguration, I headed to the Capitol to see what it was like. I was surprised to see that the Friday before the big day, most of the chairs have already been put out, along with the big screen tv and American flags. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t look like this today 🙂

Happy MLK day!