That’s Not Columbia!

Do you have a particular way you like to be photographed? We’re all familiar with those old familiar Hollywood lines like “I’m ready for my closeup” or “Shoot me from my best side.” The advent of the selfie has revealed a whole new kind of artistry when it comes to revealing one’s best side.

Have you ever seen a photograph of someone you know and yet somehow it doesn’t even look like them? Perhaps it’s the lighting or the angle. Maybe it’s makeup or what they are wearing. I had an experience like that but it wasn’t with a person. It was with Columbia.

Fox 5 DC did a story about a recent Wallet Hub survey but that’s not what caught my eye. It was this:

Photo property of Fox 5 DC

My first thought was: that’s not Columbia!

I clicked on the article and there was that photo again, along with this one:

Photo property of Fox 5 DC

Oh, okay. I know where that is.

But, honestly, I felt a bit indignant. Of all the Columbia views that we know and love, why did Fox 5 choose ones that were so ordinary and unappealing? (This is not a swipe at Town Center, by the way, which has plenty of photo-worthy vistas.) One wonders if the station just sent someone to drive through town and they took a picture from their car at a stop light.

There’s nothing false about the photos. They were indeed taken in Columbia. But I realized that I do have a rather proprietary feeling about what kind of views I want my town to be presenting to the world. That’s probably been reinforced over the years by the consistent usage of the old familiar locations such as the Lakefront and the People Tree, Open Space with all its pathways, pools and tot lots. You know what I mean: Columbia green and beautifully landscaped. Modern in a retro-Columbia sort of way. Dare I say “iconic”?

Columbia has always had mundane and unexceptional views. Every place does. We just don’t publicize them.

So this is probably more a blog post about me and my preconceived ideas about what Columbia looks like and less of a critique of the Fox 5 photographer. It activated that same sort of feeling I had when Julia Louis-Dreyfus bemoaned the unpleasantness of her Columbia experience while filming Veep. I didn’t like how it made us look. Or maybe how it made me feel.

Of course, to us, Columbia is a place unlike any other. We have our own wacky brand of exceptionalism. - - #morethangateway, Village Green/Town², December 12, 2013

We can’t control how people see us. Perhaps in the early years we could. The older Columbia gets, the less that will be so. Still - - it was such a disorienting feeling to look at that photograph and, for just a moment, have absolutely no idea where it was.

What do you think?

Village Green/Town² Comments

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else. Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog