The Book

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Faceless Faces in Public Places presents people exhibiting determination and hope as they interact with their daily environments amid the angst of this unprecedented era, capturing the affection they show for their communities and the vital nature of place even during a pandemic.

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The collection, with over 80 black-and-white photographs, is composed of street photography showing adults and children wearing protective masks as they go about their lives in local neighborhoods within the Washington, DC urban core.

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Sam Kittner's Faceless Faces in Public Places marks our collective navigation through these historic times.​

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Sam's Perspective:

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While I wish this pandemic had never occurred, the making of the book has been a very rewarding personal and professional journey that I am thrilled to share with you. The Faceless Faces project gave me a framework to continue my decades-long work of telling placemaking stories. Even in the pandemic, people and place still interact.

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​I not only had the privilege of capturing scenes of grace and beauty amidst these uncertain times here in my beloved DC metro area, but I also had the opportunity to collaborate with many friends and associates I admire. They have helped me to shape the book - the critical selection and sequencing of images to create a pace to the narrative, the whole design and layout, and the printing and distribution process.

Award Winning Photography

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Two images from Faceless Faces in Public Places were recognized in the American Photography 37 (AP37) annual hardcover award book. Only 416 photos were selected from over 7000 submissions.

A series of images from my book Faceless Faces in Public Places won recognition and will be published in the venerable Graphis photography annual awards book.

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Public Exhibitions

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Four images from Faceless Faces in Public Places were displayed at the North Carolina Museum of Art as part of the Persevere: Outdoor Exhibition and Projection Event during the CLICK Photography Festival.

Faceless Faces' images were included in the Houston Center for Photography online exhibition Togethering.

The South by Southeast Gallery included images from Faceless Faces in their Love, Loss, and Resilience virtual exhibit curated by Molly Roberts.

Reviews for Faceless Faces in Public Places

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"It tells the story of this crazy [time] extremely well. Bravo!"​
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Dudley Brooks

Photo Editor, The Washington Post

"Masked faces look silent, yet Faceless Faces celebrates individuals as they transcend the inconvenience of their altered lives; communicating strength, resilience, compassion, and hope. A brilliant curation of brilliant photography."​
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Suzanne Firstenberg

Artist and Creator of In America Flags

"A poignant collection capturing how we're living through a pandemic"​​
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David Corn

DC Bureau Chief, Mother Jones

MSNBC Analyst

"The stunning images featured in Sam Kittner's Faceless Faces are chock full of compassion, hope, heart, angst, frustration, and love, of course. Highly recommended."

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Michele Brafman​

Author

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In The Media

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In May 2020, Brian Hopkins of ABC7 / WJLA shadowed Sam while he was taking photographs for Faceless Faces in Public Places. You can see Brian's footage here.

Washingtonian Magazine includes Faceless Faces in "Stuff We've Been Digging" - "Kittner offers pictures of street life during the pandemic". See their roundup here.

Hear Sam's interview with Eric Bond for Talk of Takoma on WOWD​. In November 2020, Sam and Eric discussed the process of creating the book. Listen here.

ULI Washington has used Sam's placemaking photography for many years, often in partnership with BIDs. They featured Faceless Faces on their blog in April 2020.

The Pandemic Lens blog featured Sam's work on Faceless Faces in November 2020.

American Photography's ProPhotoDaily reviewed Faceless Faces and interviewed Sam in May of 2020.

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