Ronny Charles new remixes at ESnip

Though Blues, Jazz & R&B guitarist Ronny Charles has been a member at MySpace since September 2005 not only would he extensively update his site at MySpace in January 2007 but he also signed onto ESnips at Ronny Ch in DC.

Where he has uploaded several mixes that he has tweaked and remixed at his home studio in Arlington VA.

Click image by Elvert Barnes to access ongoing Ronny Charles photo set.

People (Dupont Circle): Larry, The Antique Collector

Though I must have passed through Dupont Circle a few times since, until 25 March 2007, I had not engaged in my ritual photo walk through Dupont Circle since 06 January Thaw photo project.

Party due to the cold weather and the fact that I recently spent some time in South Florida but, primarily, because I don't like the way that I am discriminated against and mistreated in Dupont Circle, as a 53 year old black male. As was the case on 06 January 2007 when a white guy that I've known for many years approached me about drugs. In the same way thjat he has always appraoched me, not only in Dupont Circle, but at bars as well ... almost demanding that I fetch him drugs.

I left Dupont Circle on that afternoon, mad as hell, because that white man knew exactly what he was doing, when in the midst of my Dupont Circle Photo Walk that he almost demaded that I contact a white friend and former catering associate to see if it was ok for him to drop by to pick up some pot.

And when I explained that I no longer associate with caterers of the past who also discrminated against me in the exact same ways as he has done, he said "I thought you told me that you had another close friend who deals pot." Reminding him, AGAIN, that I do not smoke pot and while it is very true that I do know several people who deal pot, since they and I are not as close as we once were I, as a black man, did not feel comfortable contacting them pertaining to such matters. Since they, all who are white, practice the exact same discrimination against me as does he.

Once home, I was so God Damn mad that I vowed "If that white man ever, again, asks me about drugs, in Dupont Circle or in any bar, I swear before my God I'm gonna go upside his white head with my black fist!"

While the following weekend I did walk around Dupont Circle from the Dupont Circle South WMATA Station to P Street at Dupont Circle East I made a point to not walk through Dupont Circle ... until recently.

When taking taking pictures at the Tidal Basin on Sunday, 01 April 2007 of the 2007 Cherry Blossom Festival both my cameras began to malfunction in the exact way at the exact same time. I returned home, mad as hell, remembering similarly scenarios in years past.

Not to be deterred on Monday I continued with my 2007 National Cherry Blossom Festival Project by visiting the Cultural Stage at the Jefferson Memorial. My purpose, in the process, was to test the cameras to see if they worked properly.

The older Rebel EOS did not function at all while the newer Rebel XT opererated fairly well. Or, so I thought. However, once home, many of the pictures did not come out and several could not be transferred from the cf card to my computer and quite a few could not be opened.

On Tuesday evening I strolled through Dupont Circle for the 3rd or 4th time in two weeks to test out the Rebel XT before deciding what steps to take for repair and/or replacement. As I entered Dupont Circle from the south side, and not unlike a flashback, my Easter, Over the Years (2005) project came to mind.

It was then that I remembered that flashbacks often occur when I walk through or reflect on my experiences in Dupont Circle.

After taking a series of photos when I saw Larry I did something that I seldom do. Though I always made a point to spend a few moments with Arnold Selvala before his February 2005 passing.

Larry, an antique dealer and collector, who I have observed for many years is a frequent visitor to Dupont Circle. In September 2005 he mentioned that he would soon be selling his old apartment building and moving to a smaller place. It was actually just a few days after I had purchased my first digital camera and he was one of my first Dupont Circle subjects that I'd capture with the new camera.

Some months later when I spoke with him, in Dupont Circle, he said that the move had been made. And that he liked his new place much better than where he had lived before which, if my memories serves me correctly, was a small apartment building that he owned.

On Tuesday evening, 03 April, Larry asked if I knew of that the summer flea market in Baltimore which is due to open in a week or so. I said that I did not. But, that Baltimore is one of the places that I have plans to explore, photographically.

Though I can not now recall the name of flea market when searching the internet I came across the STATION NORTH FLEAMARKET that certainly interests me. When I run into Larry, again, perhaps in Dupont Circle, I'll ask if he'd be interested in joining me for a day trip to Station North Flea Market.

As well as an ongoing subject in my NAKED TRUTH - ORAL HISTORY Project.

Larry, the Antique Collector, represents the second installment of my People - Dupont Circle series.

Traffic @ Dupont Circle

Though, in recent months, traffic at Dupont Cirlce has been amongst my many photography themes as of 2007, focusing on vehicular and pedestrian traffic scenarios, traffic at Dupont Circle will be a more pronounced aspect of my photography studies. As will Dupont Circle North and Dupont Circle South.

Click photo to view Traffic at Dupont Circle photoset. A similar study is Rush Hour Traffic in Washington DC.

Déjà vu in Dupont Circle

I had not been photographing in Dupont Circle, the way that I do, since Satruday, 11 November 2006. So when visiting Dupont Circle during Saturday's January Thaw my purpose was to get a few photos for the Dupont Circle 2007 Project. But, as often is the case, when I pass through Dupont Circle or visit bars in the area or travel across the nation I would experience "déjà vu" when someone that I've known for years asked me about drugs ... the way that he and many white men have always approached about drugs.

And since it has been my experience, that, when white men approach me about drugs they mean me irreparable harm ... the déjà vu that I experienced when the white man asked me about drugs was more like 'flashbacks' ... resulting from horrrific memories that what would occur just after a white man had approached me about drugs.

I thought to myself, "Man, PLEASE, we've danced this dance a billion and one times before!

My déjà vues in Dupont Circle are more like flashbacks ...!

Click photo to view Dupont Circle 2007, Two Men Project and Tattoos/Taboos 2007 photosets.

New Years Day 2006 / Dupont Circle (PNBS)

In the process of developing my DELIVER ME: 2006 In Retrospect / Year in Review documentary project and when curating a New Year's Day 2006 Photographs Never Before Seen 2007 photoset, I'd come across some Dupont Circle New Years Day 2006 photos. CLICK PHOTO.

Saturday, 11 November 2006

On Saturday afternoon, 11 November, in the process of my 2006 Veterans Day Weekend photographic project and when en route to the Robert Cole Studio I'd pass through Dupont Circle. As a result, since the 31 October launching of this Dupont Circle blog this posting, Dupont Circle 11 November 2006 represents my first photojournal entry.

People (Dupont Circle)

Since receiving a Minolta as a Christmas gift in 1991 seldom have I gone anywhere without a camera. Reminding me of Central Park and even before my move to Scott Circle in September 1993 Dupont Circle had been the public park, in WDC, that I most often visited. Which dates back to 1975 or 1976 when I began to frequent Mr. P's which was one of the first gay bars on P Street. Which, at the time, but not unlike the history of most gay bars in WDC, I was not always welcomed, as a black male.

And though my former partner and on again - off again house mate who was white was one of the several sanctioned cocaine dealers at Mr. P's for almost a decade it was also during our entire relationship which spanned from February 1982 until his death in August 1995 that, over the years, I'd find myself "less welcomed" at Mr. P's then he.

Which was not only indicative of my experiences at Mr. P's but also true of most relationships and experiences that I have hadand places that I have been, as a black male. Including the manner by which I am treated when I now pass through Dupont Circle.

And, in fact, but as I discuss in my writings, not only am I not now welcolmed in places that I once frequented including Dupont Circle or that I have invested my time, heart and soul but I have less freedoms now than I had 35 years ago.

In the prcoess of photographing Dupont Circle since 1992 I have accumulated a most unique collection of historic photographs which when creatively integrated with my writings regarding my experiences as black male will represent an important documentation of our times as well as shed light on my personal story.

People (Dupont Circle), a natural progression of my ongoing "Dupont Circle, Over the Years" project, will attempt to shed light on the individual stories and, perhaps, collective history of those who frequent and in some cases live in Dupont Circle.

It was actually conceived one year ago when out testing my new Canon Rebel G that I happened upon a group of latino men who, since then, I have have photographed on most occasions when I've come across them in Dupont Circle and whom I have included in my October 2006 Hispanic Heritage Month Project.

And, in my attempt to fall (move) forward, this blog will launch on 1 November 2006. Since, in order to move forward one must know "... from where he has come ...!".

And though my white counter part and have I lived during the same time and in many cases shared the same bed, not ever did they and I have the same experiences. And, in fact, our experiences were just the opposite. As I now feel less welcomed in Dupont Circle than I did 35 years ago which is not unlike the relationships that I have experienced, as a black male.

Though I do not know this man, on a personal level, I have observed and photographed him many times over the past year, in Dupont Circle. And, if truth be known, I feel more comfortable around him then I do with many/most of the people that I have had relationships with, over the years.

Dupont Circle, Over the Years! has not meant to me, a black man, what it has meant to my white counterpart.