We are all missing public space as we have known it.  Through years of work with media publications, business improvement districts, and public institutions, as well as the architecture, design, and urban development community, Sam Kittner’s photography has documented the interaction between people and place.

During the pandemic, in brief spurts of exploring, Kittner is continuing that work.  Taking appropriate safety measures, he is documenting how communities interact with their environments, capturing the affection people feel for their neighborhoods, and highlighting the vital nature of the places in which we traverse and gather.  Kittner’s coverage is primarily of local neighborhoods, each with their distinctive sense of place, within the Washington, DC urban core.

“I think we are all kind of exhausted from the weight of this crisis and looking for strength wherever we can find it,” Kittner says.  “It is interesting to me to photograph in these familiar public spaces, capturing the relationship of people to their neighborhoods, and look at the mask wearing as a visual cue that something is amiss in our world at large.”

Follow the ongoing series on Kittner’s instagram account: @samkittner where he currently has over 20 image posts as well as a slideshow presentation at https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_fqlGfhjMM/   You may also be interested in his portfolio of Placemaking images at kittner.com.