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Thank You For Everything

May 28, 2025 By Heather Goss

These are the remarks I offered at our finale to my incredible Exposed DC team, to the DC Public Library for archiving our entire collection, and to everyone who has been a part of this wonderful community for 19 years. You can watch the remarks here; they are slightly edited for reposting.

Good evening everybody. I’m so pleased to have you all here tonight for this celebration. My name is Heather Goss, and I kicked off this little venture called Exposed DC back in 2006.

We are here to celebrate two milestones tonight. We are inducting our entire photography collection into The People’s Archives here at the DC Public Library. And we’re celebrating the finale of Exposed DC after nearly two decades of featuring local photography.

Every year, as you all know, we host an exhibition that showcases life and culture in the District, through the eyes of the people who live, work, and love here. Over the last 18 years, many hundreds of photographers have shown us their vision of the city in one of our shows. Over that time, more than 10,000 people have joined us at celebrations just like this one to see your work.

We have been fortunate to have had many words written about Exposed over the years. But when people ask me what Exposed DC is, I often think about the words written by one of our own photographers, our friend Joe Flood. He wrote, “If I wanted to explain to someone what happened in DC in the last year, I would take them to the Exposed DC Photography Show. Full of feeling, the photos show what it was like to be alive during this time in Washington.”

When I think about why the photos in Exposed are so special, I often think about one of my favorite books on photography. It’s called The Ongoing Moment, by Geoff Dyer. In it, Dyer looks at the canon of American photography and he sees all these recurring, simple motifs—benches, street musicians, solitary woman or men in overcoats. He sees these scenes repeated over and over again, by Stieglitz and Evans, by Lange and Arbus. Each one lending their own vision to the scene. He says that together these photographers have created an “ongoing moment,” where these images and themes are continuously resonating and evolving through the eyes of each new photographer.

So you might see why I think about this when I think about Exposed. Our photographers find all the familiar scenes that make up our lives here in the District. From our daily metro rides and walks to the local bar, to the crowds at the cherry blossoms and protests on the Mall. Year after year, our photographers reshape these scenes into our ongoing moment, in beautiful and strange and sometimes absolutely stunning new ways.

I can’t think of a more natural place to capture that moment than at the DC Public Library, an institution that stewards our collective, cultural memory, and ensures it stays a living one. I could not be more proud that the Exposed DC Photography Collection will be a small part of the memory that they care for.

Thank you so much to Laura Farley, the assistant manager for digital initiatives at The People’s Archive, who has been so instrumental in helping us make this collection a reality. Thank you as well to Maya, and Ayahna and everyone here at the Library that helped us create this collection and our celebration event.

Before we toast, we have one more thing to celebrate—which is that this celebration is the finale for us at Exposed DC after nearly two decades. So if you’ll bear with me just a few more minutes, there are several people I need to thank for getting us here.

Many of you joined back when this was called the DCist Exposed Photography Show.  That’s where this whole thing began, back at what was then a start-up local news venture. We had a small army of DCist staffers who volunteered their time to learn how to perfectly hang a photo, or pour thousands of draft beers at a makeshift bar in the middle of a gallery. Our team at DCist made those first few years of Exposed possible, and also extremely fun.

After DCist, we became Exposed DC, a nonprofit organization that has grown and thrived through a staggeringly long list of partnerships with local businesses and community organizations. That includes the ones who have helped us throw our celebratory event—our friends at Aperturent and Capital Photography Center.

We’re also thrilled to partner with Robin Bell, an incredible DC-based multimedia artist who created a custom projection that’s showed throughout the event featuring our entire collection. I also want to give a shout out to DJ Sequoia and v:shal. They have played the soundtrack for many years of Exposed events, and I’m so happy to have them at our finale.

When it comes to support, I especially need to thank the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities. Their generosity has made our finale celebration possible, as well as so much of our work over the years.

Through all these partnerships, we have been able to stretch so far beyond the annual show, with community events and happy hours, classes and workshops, our Friday newsletter of all things photography, and so many special exhibits. We have been fortunate to have had our show hosted by what I think are some iconic DC venues, from our very first year at Warehouse—where Molly and Paul Ruppert trusted us with that first show—to our 10th anniversary at the Carnegie Library with the DC History Center, and all the way to tonight, on this incredible roof deck.

Nevertheless, Exposed has always remained a small organization. And many of our teammates have been with us since the very beginning. I do not have enough gratitude for my friend, James Calder. He was a photographer in the show, and asked to volunteer, and then quickly became my co-executive director for many years. He created so much of the infrastructure that allowed us to go from that first year into something we could recreate, year after year. And he’s a damn fine photographer that helped shape the early curation of this collection. 

Jennifer Wade is another great photographer who was also in the show, joined as a volunteer and is now one of our board members. She has brought the very important theater director role to Exposed, helping us keep the experience of the show as good as the images that are in it.

Leigh Bailey has brought her non-profit business expertise to us—and she’s also led and coordinated all of our volunteers who ran our celebration event. A huge thank you to those volunteers, as well as all the many, many volunteers over the years who have helped us pull all this off for so long. 

And a thank you to Board members Yonas Hassan, Sriram Gopal, Kim Keller, and Satya Ponnaluri. They have all generously volunteered their time and expertise to ensure Exposed DC’s success.

And then there is Noe Todorovich. Noe has led Exposed as the executive director ever since James and I basically ambushed her with the job offer many years ago. I cannot think of anybody who could have led Exposed through its second decade any better. She did it through the good times when we were juggling almost too many opportunities to handle, and she did it all the way through the pandemic, finding creative ways for us to continue to gather to keep celebrating photography and celebrating our community. She helmed us all the way to this launch, and I am both so proud and so grateful for her leadership.

And finally, a last remark for all of the photographers who have been part of our community for so many years. Our team at Exposed DC—we feel so fortunate to know you and to have been part of what you all created. This collection is our thank you to all of you.  

I offer a toast: To everyone who is here because you love photography, or maybe you love a photographer, or you just love this city. The collection we’ve created here is ours, but it is also now the People’s, so instead of the end, let us toast to our ongoing moment. 

Photo by Mariah Miranda

Filed Under: Announcement, Collection, Current Feature Tagged With: Exposed DC Collection

Exposed DC Celebrates the Launch of Photography Collection at DC Public Library

May 28, 2025 By exposeddc

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Photos by Mariah Miranda Photography. View full gallery here.

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us on Saturday evening for the launch of the Exposed DC Photography Collection at the DC Public Library. We hope you enjoyed a beautiful day at Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library partaking in the special activities and tours offered by the Library, viewing the 322 images of the collection taken by 160 photographers, and getting to meet and reconnect with our incredible community of photographers and supporters.

So many people came together to make this collection and celebration possible, and we are so grateful to everyone who contributed to this capstone event. In case you missed it, you can view the remarks from our founder, Heather Goss, who shared not just the origins of Exposed DC, but also its evolution through the years culminating in this special collection that tells our story.

We would like to extend special thanks to The People’s Archives at the DC Public Library for helping us form this collection, which will both provide access to the public and ensure its safekeeping for future generations. And, of course, to each of the photographers in the collection who have been sharing their unique perspectives of the District through their art for nearly two decades.

We are so grateful to the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, for their support of this project and Exposed DC over the years, along with our event sponsors Aperturent and Capital Photography Center.

Thank you to Robin Bell for breathing new life into the images with his live remixes and custom projections designed just for this event and space. And thank you to Kendall Spink for working so tirelessly on the posters with each photo in the collection in chronological order so we could journey back in time through each year of Exposed DC in print as well. Thank you to our official event photographer, Mariah Miranda, who has been capturing the joy of our celebrations since 2018. Her photos are also part of the collection, showing another side of the story of Exposed DC and capturing the photographers in images themselves—no easy task as we usually prefer to be on the other side of the lens!

Putting on these events is no small feat, and many thanks go to our tireless volunteers and Board members for putting in the work to bring these ideas to fruition and keep the photography celebrations rolling since 2006.

It’s been an absolute pleasure and honor bringing the Exposed DC photography shows and other events to you year after year. Thank you for being part of this journey and, now, local history. The Exposed DC Photography Collection is available online at DigDC, The People’s Archive digital repository. The entire collection page is here. 

If you’d like to provide feedback on the launch celebration, you can complete this brief survey.

Filed Under: Announcement, Collection, Current Feature Tagged With: Exposed DC Collection

The Exposed DC Photography Collection Is Live!

May 23, 2025 By exposeddc

We are thrilled to announce that the Exposed DC Photography Collection at the DC Public Library is officially launched! This collection spans nearly two decades of life, history and culture in Washington, D.C., through the images of 160 photographers who have called this city home.  

You can now explore our full collection of more than 300 photos on DigDC, The People’s Archive digital repository. The entire collection page is here. Search for specific photographers or keywords, filter by date or subject, or peruse the entire collection at your leisure.

Don’t go too far down the rabbit hole, though! We will have a full day of celebrations tomorrow at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library! Join us from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow to celebrate all of the amazing photographers in our community with us one last time before we sunset Exposed DC. 

Free, but registration is required and we expect a good size crowd at the reception so plan accordingly.

If you’d like something to commemorate the Exposed DC era, grab one of our awesome limited-edition tee shirts available online only through Monday, May 26. 

Thank you all for your love and support over nearly two decades. This city is a more beautiful place because of you.

—
This event is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. We are also grateful to our wonderful sponsors Aperturent, where you can rent lenses, cameras and so much more, and Capital Photography Center, offering in person classes from basics to special techniques.

Filed Under: Announcement, Collection, Friday Links Tagged With: Exposed DC Collection

A Celebration and a Finale for Exposed DC 

May 21, 2025 By exposeddc

Photos in the Exposed DC Photography Collection taken by Ben Crosbie, Marcos Huerta, Carol Jean Stalun, Joseph Gruber, and Richard Barnhill

This Saturday, we launch the Exposed DC Photography Collection at the DC Public Library—ensuring our shared history will live on for generations to come. In just a few short days, Exposed DC will truly be a part of Washington, D.C. history. Maybe it was already, but now, we are making it official as more than 300 images by our local photographers join the stories, histories, and voices housed in The People’s Archive at the DC Public Library. 

The launch of our collection this Saturday will also be Exposed DC’s finale after nearly two decades of championing local photography. We couldn’t ask for a more fitting capstone to honor everything we’ve built together.

We have so much to say about this moment—this happy, celebratory moment—but let’s have champagne together first. Join us on Saturday for one last celebration as we toast to the incredible community that made it all possible.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: Exposed DC Collection

Friday Links: May 16, 2025

May 16, 2025 By Matthew Holubecki

We are just 8 days away from the biggest celebration we’ve had in 19 years! You do not want to miss launch day for the Exposed DC Photography Collection at the DC Public Library.

Check out our full schedule of activities for this all day event. During the day, expert library staff will host tours and workshops. Photographers and other artists are invited to bring materials to create their own Artist File to help the DCPL preserve the history of the regional art scene.

Multimedia artist Robin Bell will have an incredible site-specific installation all day featuring the Exposed DC images, with special live remixes at 2, 6, and 7 p.m.

Our reception kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and registration is required for this portion. The event is free but capacity is limited! 

Are you interested in volunteering (for a small stipend) to help us with the event? Complete this quick form to see if we can use your help. (Spoiler: the answer is very likely “Yes!”)

Exposed DC has enormous gratitude to our event sponsors and wonderful supporters of the photography community, Aperturent and Capital Photography Center. This event is made possible through generous support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Please consider supporting the Exposed DC collection, the celebration, and our work creating community events and cultural heritage through a tax-deductible donation.


But that’s not all! Now for your regularly programmed Friday Links…

  • Apply for the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities’ Fiscal Year 2026 Art Bank Program by Monday, May 19, to be eligible for up to $15,000 for individuals or $25,000 for nonprofit art galleries or organizations.
  • Join Free DC on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. for a guided tour of the exhibit “Up from the People: Protest and Change in D.C.” at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
  • The opening reception for the “Timeless 2025” exhibit at Photoworks is tonight from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Additional related events are scheduled through June.
  • Join PortraitMeetDC on Sunday at Dock 5, Union Market DC, from 3:00-6:00 p.m., tickets for photographers are $5 plus fees on Eventbrite.
  • Locationscout provides photographers with weather, navigation, local insights, and images from other photographers, available in apps for mobile and the web.

Filed Under: Announcement, Friday Links Tagged With: Exposed DC Collection, friday links

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