Monday, July 26, 2010

Capitol cycling


When Ohio State's Moritz School of Law asked me to photograph a new graduate who is coming to Washington to work at the Justice Department, we started our shoot, logically enough, at the Department of Justice, a big federal-looking building downtown.

But Abby, the subject of the photos, explained she will be working in the department's environmental division. What's more she's a former resident of bike-friendly Boulder, and plans to bike around town in DC and forgo a car.

Enough said. Ten dollars got us a rental bike, and Abby gamely pedaled up and down the bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue a couple times in her skirt and heels. The result was a stylish image of biking in the nation's capital.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Snoring in the pews


It's 96 degrees in Washington this afternoon, which is pretty hot if you're getting around by bike -- or if you don't have any way to escape the heat. Thankfully, the downtown Church of the Epiphany with its ministries to the poor and homeless welcomes anyone who wants to find a refuge in its historic pews on weekdays, whether to sit quietly and pray, read, or even catch up on sleep in the comfort of some air-conditioning. After all, most churches wouldn't claim their pews are any stranger to a little snoring on Sunday mornings, either.

Now we know where he gets those shirts


Walking to the metro yesterday I saw there was a small crowd, and Secret Service, at the Brooks Brothers on Connecticut Avenue. After a few minutes the reason for the gathering stepped out of the store. But Joe Biden wasn't carrying a shopping bag. Instead, it seemed he was on a shopping trip with a friend and the friend's son. That makes sense -- you'd guess that for the vice president himself, the store would deliver.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Ryan & Esmerelda's Wedding

It was about as low-key as a wedding can be: Just the bride and groom, her sister and mother, and a justice of the peace. Even the photographer - me - showed up as an unexpected surprise for the couple

But Ryan and Esmerelda's wedding, outside the courthouse in Arlington, was as charming and romantic as anyone could ask. Esmerelda looked lovely, Ryan handsome, and the flowers of the little garden blossomed like it was the first spring ever.

Someone asked to see the photos, so I made this small video from my stills.

Ryan & Esmerelda's Wedding from Jay Mallin on Vimeo.

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Friday, July 2, 2010

But tell us what you really think, Mr. Feinberg


Kenneth Feinberg has had an amazing career as a "special master" -- an expert entrusted to make decisions on financial and other matters in a legal dispute. He's served as the Obama administration's "pay czar," helped resolve the value of the famed Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination and of Holocaust slave labor, and administered the 9/11 victims fund.

And now he's in charge of divying up the $20 billion BP has surrendered to recompense victims of the oil spill. (I photographed him here testifying on this before the House Small Business Committee.) What's it worth if your seafood business is destroyed by the spill, or your beachfront rental property becomes a depository for tar balls? Or suppose the property is just fine, the beach pristine, but nobody's renting because it's on the gulf coast? It's going to be the job of Mr. Feinberg, this disaster's King-Solomon-in-Residence, to figure it all out.

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