We arrived in DC in the late in the day and after having sat in the car most of the day, needed a bit of movement and thus made the Washington Mall the destination for an evening stroll. Besides taking in the views, our little adventure became an exercise in the temporary appropriation of inanimate objects to counter the lack of a tripod. I usually did not travel without one in the good old days but for some years now I have tried to board airplanes with only carry-on luggage---managed six weeks in Australia once (including a pair of hiking boots that I never ended up using)---but my only light tripod is ironically rather bulky for its weight and usefulness. Checked out some nice carbon fibre ones on this trip. Alas, no purchase yet.
With all of the light colored edifices and monuments in the vicinity of the Mall, brightly lit at night, it seemed like a natural to try some snapping a few images with the idea of turning them into black and white images. At the west end, farthest from the Smithsonian Metro station, is the Lincoln Memorial. On the way up the steps, we passed quite a number of school classes (don't these kids have bedtimes?...just kidding, it is a rather stunning time of day to visit the Mall) and I overheard one of the teachers advising her charges to pay heed to certain symbolic elements in the statue. I think she said something about Lincoln's hands but all I really got out of my inadvertent eavesdropping was the "pay attention" bit. So I did. I looked at the work in terms of posture, hands (right open, left held closed) gaze (straight ahead...and slightly down) but little of that revealed to me any insight regarding the sculptor's intentions. What I did notice was that the marble was significantly whiter than the building's gray limestone...deliberate, I am sure, and reminiscent, when viewed from the far end of the Reflecting Pool, of the filament in a white tungsten light bulb, imbuing the monument with an apparent luminosity rather than being lit. To interpret this as a metaphor portraying the 16th as a luminary among presidents is inescapable, intended or not.
However, it was not until I started working with the image that I thought about the photographic term black and white...grayscale is much more appropriate, not only in the accurate description of a non-colored image, but, in this case---and any actually---the subject material itself, though the expression shades of gray might find more recognition among those not initiated in the graphic arts.
Not to take away from this man's achievements, but Lincoln's presidency and the politics of the day had their share of gray areas as any other did or does or will. The most pressing issues of his time, and the motives and fuel for the Civil War, were anything but black and white. Black and white thinking on the other hand, is real...and the source of much conflict, both personal and interpersonal. Gray areas are often talked about as no-man's land...as no place one wanted to be. Yet, gray areas are a mix of black and white...regions in which black and white have common ground. We humans like boundaries, like the white picket fences around our house and property...we prefer definition, pigeon-holes, boxes. Why? Gray is easier once one lets go of fear. I know..easy to say.
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