WTOP's Valerie Bonk talks to Scott and Ellie Kanowitz about their photography work with cicadas.
While a lot of people have been taking photos of cicadas since they’ve arrived, one Virginia father-daughter duo has taken it to the next level with a lot of creativity.
A cicada drives a car carrying a boat trailer in this photo staged by Scott and Ellie Kanowitz. (Courtesy Scott and Ellie Kanowitz)
A cicada drives a car carrying a boat trailer in this photo staged by Scott and Ellie Kanowitz. (Courtesy Scott and Ellie Kanowitz)
One cicada is riding a skateboard, another is driving a police car.
It all started when Scott Kanowitz of Fairfax was playing with the cicadas by hanging them on his shirt.
“We kept coming up with more and more elaborate schemes to pose them in,” Scott said.
Scott’s 11-year-old daughter Ellie Kanowitz started going through her toys and it took off from there.
“I want to put them on more cars, and more miniature things,” Ellie said.
She said the key was getting them placed in the right spots.
And, since all of the cicadas were alive, keeping them in one place was tricky at times.
“It was also fun to try to get them to stay still and pick them up,” Ellie said. “It was really fun to find the cicadas and put them in cars and stuff.”
Scott said it was more than just fun for their family. They started learning about cicadas and looked up details about their habits.
“Posing and building more and more elaborate schemes trying to get them to stay still and learn about the cicadas was really exciting,” Scott said. “I think one thing we learned was that they don’t like to ride on skateboards.”
They’re now getting requests from fans on scenes they’d like to see the cicadas try.
“We thought we were finished, but now with Memorial Day and barbecue time coming up, we got requests,” Scott said.
Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas.
