Art
by Alex Sheremet

ANALOG GRUNGE: Washington DC on 35mm Film

A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC against a deep blue cloudy sky with an airplane flying away from the scene, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.

Walking around Washington DC for the first time ever, I was simultaneously impressed that this was the purported center of the world, and disappointed that it was the purported center of the world. All museums are free, the city is walkable, there is urban grunge worth exploring and photographing, yet many sites were closed (reflecting pool, much of the White House lawn, etc.) and there was little sense of that imperial permanence America wishes so badly to project. By contrast, the lesser-known corners (or even just angles) of Washington, DC are endless, which was obvious even though I only spent a short time there.

All photos were taken on a Pentax MX loaded with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400. In my quest for a better hit rate, I’ve settled on more expensive film to calm my trigger finger. Total cost was $98 to buy film and develop these photos – or, a bit over $3 per shot, after averaging in discarded shots. That is a trade I will take.

You may contact me for high-resolution versions of each image. You can also view 100s of more shots from around the world here.

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A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a first of the roll shot of sunlit bushes and a building lit up by window reflections in Washington DC (Logan Circle), as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“First of the Roll.” Logan Circle, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting Washington DC's Capitol Building from behind silhouetted piping and construction, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Birth of the Capitol.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a black man on colored steps leading up to colonnades in Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Summer Steps.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a colorful Washington DC construction site with the Washington Monument subtly behind and a distant airplane, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Washington Monument I.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the Washington Monument in Washington DC subtly poking out from behind a building and construction site, with the Great American State Fair Ferris Wheel, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Washington Monument II.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Washington Monument III.” Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting silhouetted airplanes and people at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Shadow In The Air.” Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting byzantine-style steps with anime photos and a woman's eye poking out from behind the lace in Chinatown, Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Eye For An Eye.” Chinatown, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting children sliding down the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Bored By America.” Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC against a deep blue cloudy sky and an airplane flying away from the scene, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Turned Away.” Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the Washington Monument in Washington DC as if through a reflective surface, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Washington Monument IV.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a woman peeking into a dark tent with a green-black color gradient in the shadow, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Into The Void.” Great American State Fair, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a black woman blowing up a red balloon in the suburbs of Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine, which will be a part of his upcoming film on the American poet James A. Emanuel.
Tyechia I (“I Wish I Had A Red Balloon”). Bowie, Maryland, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a black woman balancing on a log in the suburbs of Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine, which will be a part of his upcoming film on the American poet James A. Emanuel.
“Tyechia II.” Bowie, Maryland, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting Alex Sheremet fixing the lav mic of his interview subject in the suburbs of Washington DC, as featured on the automachination literary magazine, which will be a part of his upcoming film on the American poet James A. Emanuel.
“Tyechia III.” Interview for Alex Sheremet’s film on poet James A. Emanuel, Bowie, Maryland, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a face looking up at an open sunlit roof in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Sister From Another Planet.” National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a colorful clothesline in a New York City patio, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“ColorLine.” New York City, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a New York City handball park with apartments behind the fence, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Empties.” New York City, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting construction workers in New York City seen through a beat-up vehicle, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Backbends.” New York City, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a ghostly woman looking over a dark green hedge with bright orange lights above, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Over The Hedge.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting an overcast construction site, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Half And Half.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a couple taking a photo, shot behind a construction zone, and taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“We Need Pictures.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a woman in the rearview mirror of a parked vehicle, with a reflected selfie underneath, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Not An Argument.” Logan Circle, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a woman peeking into a thin band of light in Washington DC, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Light Peeking.” National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the Washington Monument in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Washington Monument V.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a female cyclist between colorful streamers, taken in Washington DC during Pride Month and the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Pride Sans Sin.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a ghostly woman and man reflected in a storefront window, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“New Ghost.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a tree separating a building and a similarly-colored sky with lots of green lush, taken in Washington DC during Pride Month and the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Partitions II.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a city hare sniffing around grass, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Hare As A State Of Mind.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting a woman lying in the grass below the Washington Monument, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured on the automachination literary magazine.
“Washington Monument VI.” Washington DC, 2026.
A 35mm photo by author and filmmaker Alex Sheremet, taken on the Pentax MX with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 film, depicting the statue of Major General Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben in Lafayette Park, taken in Washington DC during the Great American State Fair, as featured in the automachination literary magazine.
“Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.” Washington DC, 2026.

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More from Alex Sheremet: Art of Crime: Analyzing Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (1989), The Many Illusions of Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” (1979), GREATNESS 101: Analyzing Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986)