ArtistLlewellyn Berry III
Indian Athletic Club
Date1984
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsImage Size: 9 × 13 in. (22.9 × 33 cm)
11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
Framed Size: 18 1/2 × 22 1/2 in. (47 × 57.2 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2003.148
ClassificationsPhotographs
Locations
- Currently Not on View
DescriptionWandering around Rhode Island Ave. NW and 11th street back in 1970 or so, Berry came upon this store front. He was familiar with the area because he had attended the 12th street YMCA Summer Day Camp from 1952-1964, (long before it was known as the Anthony Bowen YMCA).
The first photograph (or shot) Berry made was purely accidental. He doesn’t usually like to photograph people because it often causes consternation on their part and if you ask them, even if they say ok, you’ve lost the impromptu moment which initially caught your eye or if they say no, you’ve lost the moment anyway.
However, Berry did make the first shot and there was an older man sitting out front smoking a cigar. He did not look particularly pleased that Berry was taking his picture. It was then that he got up from his chair and went inside. Of course, Berry expected someone or a few to come out and chase him away.
Berry took another shot of just the façade of the building.
In Berry’s mind, he liked the idea of the man sitting out front, but if he could only display the photograph after having his permission, Berry could settle on just the façade as a documentation of an old time 11th street iconic men’s club, because he didn’t think he would get that permission. Part of Berry wanted to take the time to access the group and make black and white, smokey-room photographs of these old black men and the culture that surrounded them.
Alas, Berry did not, and it is indeed a regret, but it would have taken energy and a confidence that he did not have at that time in his life.
The experience certainly is an endemic part of Berry’s evolution as an artist and also a teacher. There is a formal and an informal “getting out of one's self” in order to achieve certain goals. That kind of energy comes naturally to some people and for others, it is acquired after much soul searching and experiences.
Berry has been able to give his students the benefit of his hesitancies and many of them have found the energy to capture great moments in street photography including portraits of strangers.
