Washington, D.C. #12 1976

Anthony Hernandez captured this photograph, "Washington, D.C. #12," rendering a seemingly ordinary urban scene. Yet, within its composition, the solitary figure on the bench resonates deeply with symbolic weight. Observe how the man, hunched and turned away, embodies a kind of modern-day melancholia. This posture echoes depictions of hermits or prophets in earlier art, figures who withdraw from the world to grapple with deeper truths. Think of the seated Jeremiah, often depicted in medieval art, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem; a similar sense of isolation and sorrow permeates this photograph. But here, the setting shifts to the anonymous landscape of modern Washington, D.C., where the individual is dwarfed by the cold, geometric architecture. The bench, typically a place of rest and social interaction, becomes a stage for solitude. The shadow cast upon the ground may be seen as a symbol of internal struggles, unseen yet ever-present. The man's isolation evokes a powerful psychological response, reflecting our own subconscious fears of alienation in the modern world. Through this single figure, Hernandez taps into a collective anxiety, a shared sense of displacement that transcends time and place.