Through His Lens, a Mayor in Many Lights

All those who regard Anthony A. Williams as an uncaring and restrained bureaucrat have not viewed the mayor through Lateef Mangum's camera lens.

As the mayor's official photographer, Mangum has captured Williams in thousands of situations: soberly presiding over news briefings and ribbon-cuttings, of course, but also smiling widely while astride a motorcycle or cheerfully making a spontaneous New Year's Eve visit to a Georgia Avenue carwash.

One of Mangum's favorite photos is among the most poignant.

It was taken at Ballou Senior High School one winter night in 2004. A student-athlete had been shot dead by a classmate the day before. In the school's gymnasium, Williams spent more than six hours listening to parents and students vent their anger to a mayor they considered callous and cavalier about residents east of the Anacostia River, where the school is located.

Mangum captured Williams sitting slumped. His chin rested on his polka-dotted bow tie. His eyes looked glassy, and the reflection from the television cameras' lights created a bright white spot on his forehead, almost like a bull's-eye. A well-known community activist, Rufus "Catfish" Mayfield, is hunched over his shoulder.

To Mangum, the moment reflected an almost heroic stoicism and the mayor's ability to keep going despite the battering.

"He knew he had to be there to deal with it. . . . It reminded me of a prizefighter who is getting his [butt] kicked in the ring. He's in the corner between rounds, and Catfish Mayfield reminded me of the trainer. He's saying, 'Look, you got to get back out here. It's going to be all right,' " said Mangum, staring down at the photograph, set atop one of the packing boxes crowding his office last week.

Mangum, 57, knows something about dedication, too. He often labored nights and weekends, even holidays, documenting the mayor's activities. When Williams hands over control of the D.C. government to Adrian M. Fenty today, Mangum will be nearby, clicking his Nikon D200.

As Williams exits, Mangum will end his 12-year run as the official mayoral photographer.

Fenty plans to replace him with Rick Reinhard, a well-known freelance photographer who is a longtime family friend and Mount Pleasant neighbor of Fenty's parents.

Mangum's history at the John A. Wilson Building traces to the 1960s, when it was called the District Building and the city was governed by appointed leaders.

A North Carolina native, Mangum worked his first summer job there drawing plot plans. After college, he started to develop his interest in photography and audio-visual presentation. He bounced around a few jobs, lived for a time in Nigeria and eventually landed at D.C. General Hospital.