PHOTOS: ‘Washington Alone’ documents DC sites during the pandemic

April 30, 2020

Courtesy Kevin Brennan

Those who live in the D.C. area would normally avoid the monuments on a sunny day during tourist season. But with stay-at-home orders and social distancing in place due to the coronavirus, one D.C. man took the opportunity to capture the iconic sites of the nation’s capital, which have taken on a quiet and eerie beauty.

Before the stay-at-home orders, lobbyist and consultant Kevin Brennan, would bike to work from his Northwest home to his office at Bluebird Strategies in downtown D.C. The commute was 20 miles round trip.

See more of Brennan’s photos on his website Washington Alone.

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One of Kevin Brennan’s favorite is this classic shot from the Lincoln Memorial. “I stood at the tops of the Lincoln Memorial and had a shot. You know, that classic shot straight through the columns and down the Reflecting Pool, with a monument in the background. And there were some low-hanging clouds and the sun hadn’t quite come up yet. And that was really amazing,” Brennan said. (Courtesy Kevin Brennan)

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A clear blue sky provides a backdrop for the Washington Monument. (Courtesy Kevin Brennan)

The last time he was in the office was March 12.

“Once I settled into this new work-from-home experience, I realized that I was going to go crazy if I didn’t continue to exercise in some form,” Brennan said.

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Photographer Kevin Brennan said that in normal times the Vietnam Veterans Memorial feels like a church. “It’s just such a solemn and sacred place, and being there completely by yourself, and absorbing all of that just made it even more so. And there’s a certain special uniqueness to that,” Brennan said. (Courtesy Kevin Brennan)

It was around the first day in quarantine that he decided to get up really early before people were out on the trail and try to recreate his bike commute in the morning.

“That way I’d get that exercise out of the way,” he said.

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Runners, tourists, cyclist typically fill the path along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. (Courtesy Kevin Brennan)

He started with his usual route from the Capital Crescent Trail, then Georgetown, the White House. Then he mixed it up and went to the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court. He even ventured to Virginia, where he encountered some closures and police at Arlington National Cemetery stopped him.

During his early morning rides, he took selfies to send to his friends, showing the empty streets and vacant sites once teeming with people.

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The Washington Monument can be seen from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove. (Courtesy Kevin Brennan)

“It feels like I have the city all to myself,” Brennan said.

Despite the strangeness of seeing an empty city, Brennan said it’s very peaceful, serene and restorative.

“You realize very quickly that there’s a reason for that, and the reason is obviously very depressing as far as you know — the pandemic and how this has affected so many people,” Brennan said.

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“I went over to National Airport, and I just sat where you’d sit in (the spot with) planes flying overhead every 30 seconds as they were landing and taking off. And I saw, I think, one plane take off in a half-hour that I was there. (I) didn’t see any movement on the runways or anything, and it was just crazy, ” Kevin Brennan said. (Courtesy Kevin Brennan)

Brennan said that he hopes something like the pandemic that forces the country to stay at home and leaves all these places so empty never happens again.

“But it’s been very special for me to have an opportunity to take advantage of that solitude and quiet to enjoy this and then take these photographs to document these scenes.”

Abigail Constantino

Abigail Constantino started her journalism career writing for a local newspaper in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is a graduate of American University and The George Washington University.