An Arm, Unearthed

The children visiting National Harbor on Sunday loved crawling all over the buried giant in the sand. In this image, you can see children climbing on the giant's face. In spite of people hanging around the different parts of The Awakening, it is still very odd seeing this large aluminum arm rising out of the earth. Such a striking and imaginative sculpture. I can't wait to return during a less busy time of year to photograph The Awakening again. I'm sure there are lots of characteristics that I missed, because I couldn't get close enough due to the crowds.

The Awakening's Foot

Yes, that is a large aluminum foot coming out of the sand. It is one part of a very unusual sculpture called "The Awakening" which now resides at National Harbor near DC. Designed by Johnson & Johnson heir John Seward Johnson II, it depicts a giant embedded in the earth trying to free himself. About 70 feet in length, the sculpture features the giant's face, arm, knee and foot protruding from the National Harbor's sand. For more than 25 years, it was installed at Hains Point in East Potomac Park in DC and was moved to Maryland when the National Harbor development opened in 2008.

Since there were so many people visiting the sculpture during my visit, it was difficult to get a good wide shot of the entire sculpture. I'll have to try again another time. So, I focused instead on individual elements, like the giant's foot, to photograph.