An emotional vigil was held in Southeast D.C. Thursday night — to honor the memory of popular D.C. photographer Joseph Shymanski.
Shymanski, 51, was reported missing from his Calvert County, Maryland, home on Labor Day by a family member. Law enforcement has since arrested a Pennsylvania man of a murder charge in connection to his disappearance.
An investigation into his disappearance is still ongoing.
Human remains were discovered by police shortly before the vigil. In a Facebook post, detectives said they believe the remains may be linked to Shymanski’s murder.
“While we have yet to formally identify the remains discovered, we do believe they are associated with our ongoing investigation,” the post read.
But friends, family, colleagues and others who gathered Thursday said the night wasn’t about the “senseless loss” of Shymanski.
For good friends of his like Anneli Werner, it was about celebrating his life, and his vigil saw the community come together in a profound and special way.
The evening saw many a tearful embrace, all shared in a room filled with memories, snapshots of Shymanski’s life in photos — just the way those who knew him best said he would’ve liked it.
“Joe was the most loving, giving, generous, accommodating, kind soul that you will ever, and that I have ever met,” Werner said.
Werner told WTOP she first met Shymanski in 1998 in her 20s when she stumbled upon his photography booth, which he would set up in Eastern Market in Southeast D.C.
“I asked him to commission an art piece for me, which was all the way in Cathedral Heights,” she recounted. “He said it was no problem, and showed up a couple weeks later with this perfectly wrapped gift of the photos he’d taken.”
Werner said when she asked Shymanski how much she owed him, he responded, “Whatever you feel like.”
“That’s just how he was,” she said. “He had a heart of gold, and would do anything for anyone he cared about at the drop of a hat.”
Werner said she would go on to hire Shymanski to take photos for her law firm, and before his passing, they’d been good friends for 25+ years.
“It feels like I’m in some sort of sick joke,” she said of Shymanski’s passing. “But it’s appropriate we’ve gathered here in this place, in Eastern Market. He was an artist.”
Werner said her Shymanski story is just one of many.
And one by one, by candlelight outside Eastern Market on a muggy late summer night, people shared tales of Shymanski’s kindness, hilarity, generosity and fierce love.
“Joe was such a light, and such a beautiful spirit and beautiful soul. He never said a bad word about anybody, and everybody who was around him just felt happier,” Werner said.
At one point, those who knew Shymanski in the District, to family and friends who flew in from places like Michigan, Los Angeles and beyond, united in song to sing “Here Comes the Sun,” as a way of showing how Shymanski’s light shines on, even if he’s physically gone.
Werner said Shymanski lived larger in his 51 years than most do in their lifetimes. She said he will live on, both through those who loved him and also through the photographs that he leaves behind.
“He just inspired us all to be better people,” she said, fighting back tears. “And if we can carry that out in this crazy world we’re living in, we will all be a little bit better for it. I know that’s how I’m going to honor his legacy.”
Longtime friends recount Shymanski’s life
Two of Shymanski’s friends, Mike and Robyn Goecke, told WTOP that they remember him as an “upbeat, positive, caring, fun” person.
“He wanted people to be happy,” Robyn remembers. “Everywhere he went he brought such warmth and love and positivity and fun.”
Mike had known Shymanski since high school, and he remembers him being incredibly adept at making people comfortable and committed to capturing “things that were beautiful,” which helped with his D.C.-based photography business.
They said Shymanski’s focus in his portrait and artistic photography was to “capture the happiness and what was going on around him,” which extended from his caring personality. The Goeckes remember seeing Shymanski’s work at many friends’ houses and have heard from many people that own a piece of his work in the past few days.
“He just touched a lot of people,” Mike said. “And it brought him so much joy. Because he got to make people happy for a living. He would say to me, ‘People like my stuff, and it’s fun and they like to put it in their homes and it brings them joy on a daily basis. And I get paid to do that.’ And he just thought he was the luckiest guy ever.”
Shymanski was also able to expand his business with his partner Alton McDougal, whom he met as a D.C. public schoolteacher.
“It’s just a great story,” Mike said. “How he was a teacher, developed this relationship with one of his former student’s siblings — they’re now business partners. And Alton’s just a great guy and was critical [and] instrumental in just making Joe’s life run the way it has the last several years.”
Shymanski moved to Calvert County with his ex-wife a few years ago, but remained connected to his community in D.C. by selling his artwork at stands at D.C.’s Eastern Market, as well as the Holiday Market in Gallery Place.
Mike recounted how Shymanski “was such a hands-on, tireless dad” over the past few years, even missing trips with long-distance friends to focus on his two kids and three stepchildren.
“Joe hasn’t been there to do any of that the last couple of years because he’s been going through a tough divorce. And his focus was on his kids,” Mike said. “And my heart’s just breaking for them right now.”
WTOP’s Scott Gelman contributed to this report.
