08/27/10 For the past six months or so, I’ve been shooting a special project for my high school alma mater, Gonzaga College High School. It’s a very special place in the heart of DC just a few blocks from the US Capitol.

Friday was the first day of school. I’m sure I must have been as small and young-looking as the incoming freshman but it seems hard to believe. The campus is larger and more elaborate than when my brothers and I attended. The neighborhood is more built up as well. It’s the same place though, brimming with the same energy. The kids are smart, brash and confident.

[The bell tower. Gonzaga was founded in 1821. It’s the oldest boy’s school in DC.]

[My classmate Joe Viola has been a teacher at Gonzaga for years now. Here he is taking roll on the first day of class.]

[Pep rally before Saturday’s first game of the season versus McKinley Tech.]

[The school year starts with a Mass of the Holy Spirit in St. Aloysius Church. St. Al’s was built in 1859 in the box-like “theatrical” style of Jesuit Baroque architecture patterned after the Gesu in Rome. It was used as a hospital for wounded troops during the Civil War. The painting over the altar was executed by  Constantino Brumidi, who painted many of the frescoes inside the US Capitol.]

[Dr. John Warman – a legendary teacher at Gonzaga]

[My nephew Tim (in the center) starts his Sophomore year.]