[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 85 (Thursday, June 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE EXPOSURE GROUP HONORS LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 24, 1998

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to three local 
photographers, recorders of history, who are being recognized by The 
Exposure Group, African American Photographers Association for their 
contributions to humanity and to the District of Columbia.
  Robert H. McNeill was born in Washington, DC in 1917 and graduated 
from Dunbar High School where, in 1935, he first became interested in 
photography. He worked as a consultant for the Works Project 
Administration, and owned McNeill Photo Service and GEM Photographers. 
He was a staff photographer for the US Navel Gun Factory, the Pentagon, 
the Naval Ordinance Laboratory and the Department of State from which 
he retired as Chief of the Photography Branch, Audio-Visual Services. 
Mr. McNeill's work has been published in several books, many magazines 
and, mostly recently, in seven issues of the Washington Post Magazine. 
He has also exhibited his work in a traveling show sponsored by the 
Rhode Island Institute of Design, the Charles Sumner School, the 
Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum, the National Museum of 
American Art and the Smithsonian's Center for African American History 
and Culture. Mr. McNeill will receive the Maurice Sorrell Lifetime 
Achievement Award.
  James M. Johnson, Jr. is also a native Washingtonian and, for 
nineteen years, has operated a full-service photography studio in 
southeast Washington near the banks of the Potomac River. In 1975, he 
received a Master of Engineering degree from Howard University and 
worked as an engineer for seven years before he decided to follow his 
heart and study photography. Mr. Johnson is president of the 
Professional Photographers' Minority Network, an international 
affiliate of Professional Photographers of America, and an Ambassador 
to the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Mr. Johnson 
will receive the Photographer of the Year Award.
  Nestor Hernandez, Jr. is currently the Chief Photographer, 
Communications Division, District of Columbia Public Schools. He is the 
president of the FotoCraft Camera Club, which recently celebrated its 
60 year history with an exhibit at Howard University. Mr. Hernandez has 
exhibited his work nationally and internationally. He was exhibited in 
a solo show at the Christina Cultural Art Center in Wilmington, 
Delaware and participated in group shows in Springfield, Massachusetts 
and La Habana, Cuba. Mr. Nestor will receive the Community Service 
Award of Merit.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that this body join me in saluting these gentlemen 
photographers, and applauding the magnificent work they have done.

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