“Balmer” - or “Baltimore” as it’s often pronounced by the uninitiated - has been hosting the Light City celebration since 2016, which was the 200th anniversary of the first public demonstration of gas lighting.
In 1816, Rembrandt Peale - prolific painter and museum curator, most famous for his portraits of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - amazed patrons by lighting a roomful of paintings with a gas light without wicks, oil, or smoke! His house was the first in Baltimore to be lit with gas lighting, and Baltimore was the first city in the country to be illuminated by gas street lamps. These street lamps were erected by the Gas Light Company of Baltimore - now know as Baltimore Gas and Electric, or BGE - one of the sponsors of the Light City event.
Rembrandt Peale’s famous portraits of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
202 years after that gassy event, I found myself wandering through Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to take in the sights of the third annual Light City celebration.
You know, as a photographer, I'm all about "light", so calling something "Light City" is like rubbing catnip all over chocolate. If you happen to be a cat….that likes chocolate.…that’s also a photographer….ok, that doesn’t quite make the sense “on paper” that it did in my head, but I think you get the idea…..
Meanwhile, back at the Harbor….
When I first heard about Baltimore Light City, with (gulp) night time drone races (!?!), I practically started gibbering. All the stuff about world-renowned artists contributing innovative installations spread out over a half-dozen neighborhoods was just words swimming on the page. Did you say Drone Prix? That’s like adding cognac to catnip-chocolate.
Unfortunately, the imagining is often more grandiose than the reality, and the Drone Prix, was a case in point. Beset with frequent crashes and technical issues, the drones weren’t as exciting as I’d hoped. Oh well, the rest of the evening made up for it.
Ironically, though, due to huge crowds in certain areas that night, and some installations being shut down by the time I made my way to them, I think I got some of my best shots during the afternoon and evening, before the festivities got into full swing.
There was a gorgeous sunset, which cast some wonderful golden light and shadows on the buildings surrounding the Inner Harbor, and the subsequent blue hour left its magical mark as well.
The video and photos below - displayed chronologically throughout the afternoon and evening - should give you a good idea of what the event was like.
Here’s a quick, 4-minute overview of what the afternoon and evening of Baltimore Light City 2018 was like:
With temps in the low to mid-80’s, a lot of kids were enjoying the fountain in West Shore Park - this boy in particular seemed to find the intermittent jets thrilling
It does actually look like a lot of fun….
Most of the photos for this post are shown in the Gallery - don’t forget to check that out. Enjoy!
As always, thanks for reading my blog posts!
Next Saturday we jet over to Georgetown for a “glowing” review - don’t miss it!
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