Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

This set of photographs was motivated by the interesting shapes and contrasting colors of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland. This, of course, is the same trolley car that was the subject of the rusty trolley, trolley wheel, and suspension posts. The first photograph in this set captures the number 32 in its most abstract form; each successive photograph becomes less abstract and reveals the identity of and some degree of context for the number.

Paint peels from the rusty chassis of a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Paint peels from the rusty chassis of a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Paint peels from the rusty chassis of a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

This trolley car’s rusty chassis and peeling paint reflect its age and exposure to the elements. Besides providing great texture for photographing, the rust and peeling paint reveal what is no longer visible as well: the innumerable stories of its riders. Who were they, and where were they going? To work; to visit a loved one; to school. Maybe some simply got on to enjoy the ride and the sound of its steel wheels on the rails.

Extreme close-up shot of a trolley wheel in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up shot of a trolley wheel in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

These two photos were taken after the I took the photos of the rusty suspension parts of the trolley car. I was drawn to the hub of trolley wheel, which was nicely textured by the rust and had bolts resembling eyes.

Rusty suspension parts on a street trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of a rusty shock on a street trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Just behind one of small art gallery in Glen Echo Park is an antique street trolley car that sits on a set of rails. No one is allowed to sit in the car, of course, but there’s nothing to stop you from getting as close as possible or even touch the car. The texture of the rusty suspension parts pulled me low to the ground and partially underneath the trolley car. After fifteen minutes of shooting, I had finished my last roll of film; and my knees were telling me that it was time to stand up.

The Crystal Pool building on a cool fall day at Glen Echo Park, Maryland

The sun sets over the horizon as a children's; art building sits empty in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Although it doesn’t serve any practical purpose at Glen Echo Park since it can more accurately be described as a wall, the Crystal Pool building is a prominent feature in the park that is often a willing subject for artists painting en plein air; and if I had to guess, it’s probably frequently photographed as well.

My take on the Crystal Pool building was to photograph it using an extreme wide angle lens so that I could capture its height and as much of cloudy sky. On the left-side of the frame, you can see the back of a children’s art building sitting at the top of a small hill.

A door lock is surrounded by layers of peeling paint.

A padlock keeps shut a door with peeling yellow paint.

A door lock hole offers a window to the other side of dilapidated door.

There’s a yellow and blue door on the front of the Crystal Pool building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland to keep people from getting to the other side of the wall. Like the building itself, the two doors are dilapidated with paint cracking and peeling from top to bottom. What’s left of the paint doesn’t do much to protect the doors from the elements, but their texture gave them a dimension and depth to match the history of the park.

Ivy grows on a crumbling white wall of a building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Ivy grows against a wall with peeling red paint in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Close-up of ivy against a white wall

Ivy grows on a red wall of a building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

I don’t know the name of this ivy, but it seems to be growing everywhere across the Washington, DC area. This was especially true for the Crystal Pool building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland where the ivy covered much of the right side of the building. It’s probably not accurate to even call the Crystal Pool building a building since there’s nothing but green grass behind its facade, but it’s interesting how the organic manages to thrive as the man-made object slowly deteriorates against time and the elements.

A close-up of a riverboat's paddle wheel in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland

A riverboat is docked in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.

One of the most prominent features of Fells Point is the riverboat that sits in the dock. Shortly after photographing the rope that moored the riverboat to the dock, I was drawn to the paddle wheel and decided to make its vivid colors, angles, shapes, and lines the focal point of these photographs.

Rope holds a riverboat to the dock in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland.

Coiled rope holds a riverboat to the dock in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland.

I don’t travel to Baltimore much; but when I do, I often find myself in the Fells Point neighborhood, which is more authentic than the Inner Harbor tourist haven. In Fells Point, you can watch tugboats and barges (I hope that’s the correct name for these boats) pulling in and out of the harbor, which is a sure sign that it’s a place where real work is happening.

The rope in this photograph was used to moor a large river boat to the pier, and it caught my attention because of its shape as it sat in a pile on the edge of the pier and because of its texture, which I like to describe as “muscular.”

Broadway & Thames Street in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland

This photograph was taken at the end of an afternoon in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore. In fact, it was taken a few hours after I took the Rope photograph, and I was actually lucky to have gotten it because the batteries in my camera died immediately after I pressed the shutter. Because I didn’t have any backup batteries, I had to call it day after that.

What stood out to me about this scene was the lamp post and how it stood tall against the contrails across a twilight sky. The cars driving by foretell what’s to become another busy summer evening in Fells Point.