From the controversy over the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial to recent public outrage over the Supreme Court's ruling that it is legal to burn the American flag, America's symbols have provided occasion for much expression of sentiment. But while many Americans feel strongly about their symbols, few are endowed with the gift of giving these feelings form. It is this capacity that distinguishes Peter Costas, a Greek-born, Washington, D.C., photographer.
Since his arrival in the District via Ellis Island as a boy of fourteen in 1921, Costas has devoted the better part of a lifetime to recording the unique landscape of the nation's capital. Although relatively few know his name, many have admired his striking and inspirational images of the country's best-loved monuments and symbolic edifices. Over the years, his singular views of the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court have frequently appeared on postcards, calendars, and travel brochures.
On occasion, Costas has made the Big Time: In July 1972, his photograph of fireworks exploding over the Washington Monument appeared on the cover of Newsweek; the following November, Business Week chose his iconic rendition of the Capitol dome at night to headline its cover story on Congress. National Geographic, the old Washington Star, the German photography trade journal Zeiss Information, and a number of small local magazines have also published Costas' images of Washington.
Seminal Explorations
If the subject matter of this work immediately recommends it to diverse audiences, equally important is Costas' capacity to capture "more" of his subject than a conventional view. For he is not just a photographer but an inventor, whose seminal explorations in fish-eye and wide-angle technology mark him as a pioneer in the field.
While others simply enjoy the results, photo buffs have for years been intrigued by Costas' unique cameras. Fitting the lens from one camera onto the body of another, combining two, even three cameras into a single unit, Costas has always tailored the camera to his vision, where other photographers tailor their vision to the camera.
By his refusal to accept what others regard as photography's "inherent" limitations, Costas joins a long line of American artists, from Jackson Pollock to Julian Schnabel, to work creative innovations on tools and materials inherited from the Europeans. Thus adjusted, the old gives rise to what some might describe as a uniquely American point of view, grounded in a spirit of invention and experimentation.
There was a time when Costas' questing intelligence was not an asset: His first encounter with a camera was when he broke one. His father, having spent seven years in the United States working to support his family, returned to Greece with two folding, bellows-type cameras. "Don't touch them," he warned the thirteen-year-old Peter. As the photographer recounted in an interview with Zeiss Information, "I couldn't resist the temptation to open one. Then when I heard Father coming up the stairs, I quickly tried to close the camera but broke one of the parts in my haste. So my first encounter with a camera was anything but a success, yet it implanted in me a love that has never left me to this day for
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