ArtistLlewellyn Berry III
Café Lautrec
Date1984
MediumChromogenic print
Dimensions11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
Framed Size: 19 × 22 1/2 in. (48.3 × 57.2 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2003.147
ClassificationsPhotographs
Locations
- Currently Not on View
DescriptionThis color photograph is the second photograph Berry made that rainy evening in 1984 on 18th Street in Adams Morgan.
Berry was sitting in his car on 18th street in the rain while his friend and future wife, Linda, went into one of the shops there. He was intrigued by the raindrops on his side view mirror and its relation to the street and the lights reflected in the rain. As a primarily black and white photographer, Berry pre-visualized most of his photographs in black and white.
Berry liked the juxtaposition of the side view mirror and the street and of course, he saw it all in black and white tones. Suddenly, he saw, coming over the crest of that part of 18th street at just about Kalorama or Belmont Rd, a Metro Bus. Quickly, thinking of another kind of photograph, Berry changed his shutter speed to a slower speed – one which would show the motion of the bus – which also needed a comparable aperture setting. Berry did some quick machinations in order to make that photograph.
The color photograph was a second shot. At the time, Berry often traveled with two cameras: one loaded with black and white film and one with color. Because of the color in the Lautrec mural, he decided to also make a photograph of it at that same time.
