In a city like Washington DC we give grace to change, as it happens around us, day-in and day-out. And when pulling back those densely packed layers of its’ history, to see what once was-in contrast to-what is now, more often than not, it leads you back to where it all started.
New businesses reconstruct decades old facades and city planners do their best to save what’s left of a different time for the District. The skyline shifts like an urban Lego landscape. Buildings go up, buildings come down, and sometimes ghost from the past reappear.
Enter @theatlantis_dc. Formally-originally Nightclub 9:30-which laid its claimed to fame in the 1980s by welcoming a new wave of punk and go-go bands the likes of Black Flag, Bad Brains from D.C., Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Ramones, and of course the Chuck Brown band. The Atlantis name harkens back to thr founding club of the same name which eventually became 9:30 club. Now, a 450 person capacity, standing room only, music venue located behind the I.M.P. @930club you’ll find varied genres and musicians playing there just like in the past.
Taking all that important history into consideration I decided to document the last month and a half of build out of this exciting new venue with my medium-format Yashica Mat 124G shot on Kodak E100 slide film. Over those last 45 days I saw construction crews race to meet the end of May deadline, as on lookers stopped to take snapshots of the historic rebirth and over 500,000 ticket request poured in for their first 44 shows. This project goes to show the ebb and flow of local life in DC.
These images were all taken in sequence on one single roll of film between April 16 - May 31, 2023
New businesses reconstruct decades old facades and city planners do their best to save what’s left of a different time for the District. The skyline shifts like an urban Lego landscape. Buildings go up, buildings come down, and sometimes ghost from the past reappear.
Enter @theatlantis_dc. Formally-originally Nightclub 9:30-which laid its claimed to fame in the 1980s by welcoming a new wave of punk and go-go bands the likes of Black Flag, Bad Brains from D.C., Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Ramones, and of course the Chuck Brown band. The Atlantis name harkens back to thr founding club of the same name which eventually became 9:30 club. Now, a 450 person capacity, standing room only, music venue located behind the I.M.P. @930club you’ll find varied genres and musicians playing there just like in the past.
Taking all that important history into consideration I decided to document the last month and a half of build out of this exciting new venue with my medium-format Yashica Mat 124G shot on Kodak E100 slide film. Over those last 45 days I saw construction crews race to meet the end of May deadline, as on lookers stopped to take snapshots of the historic rebirth and over 500,000 ticket request poured in for their first 44 shows. This project goes to show the ebb and flow of local life in DC.
These images were all taken in sequence on one single roll of film between April 16 - May 31, 2023
