World in a Zip Code At Library of Virginia

Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community, a unique exhibition of photographs at the Library of Virginia, celebrates the extraordinary cultural diversity found within a single community in Northern Virginia. Columbia Pike Documentary Project (CPDP) photographers, whose personal connections to the community allowed them to capture the strength, pride, resilience, elegance, and beauty of so many overlapping cultures, created the works on view.

Columbia Pike was constructed in the 19th century as a toll road, linking rural Northern Virginia with the nation's capital. Today, it traverses one of the most culturally diverse communities in the country. More than 130 languages are spoken in Arlington County, with the densest concentration along the Pike. The inhabitants who flank this corridor, representing a salmagundi of international cultures, live and work together in harmony. “This is what peace looks like,” CPDP photographer Lloyd Wolf says. “People get along. This is how we should be.” 

The inspiration for the documentary project came from a conversation in 2007 when Wolf, along with fellow residents Paula and Todd Endo, recognized that Columbia Pike was something special and deserved attention. They welcomed additional photographers to the project—including Dewey Tron, Xang Mimi Ho, Lara Ajami, Moises Gomez, and Aleksandra Lagkueva—and set about photographing as many aspects of the Pike as they could. Together the team built a remarkable visual archive ranging in style from street photography to landscape photography to portraiture. Learn more about the documentary project at  https://cpdpcolumbiapike.blogspot.com 

Several thousand photographs from the Columbia Pike Documentary Project were transferred to the Library of Virginia’s Special Collections this spring. More than 70 of these images will be highlighted in the exhibition, which will also include information about the neighborhood, the residents, and the photographers themselves. 

“The Library is grateful to welcome these compelling works to our collection,” says Visual Studies Collection coordinator Dale Neighbors. “As the nation seems more divided than ever, this collection shows how one community is making diversity work.”

The exhibit runs from August 31 through January 8.

Library of Virginia

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Richmond, VA 23219

804.692.3611

lva.virginia.gov