Llewellyn Berry: Peirce Mill in Photographs

Sepia-toned photograph of Peirce Mill with the barn in the distance.

Llewellyn Berry, Peirce Mill Southern View, c. 1970

Photographer Llewellyn Berry first came to Rock Creek Park as a child, and later wrote that “Peirce Mill was a particular interest to me because of the waterfall outside and the stone edifice of the building itself.”

Berry returned to the mill in the early 1970s as a photography teacher with the innovative Literary Arts Program at DC Public Schools. He took photographs alongside his high-school students to “demystify” the creative process. “They could see my mistakes as well as their own and I could explain the ebb and flow of photographic seeing and capturing.”

Berry visited the mill with his students on a “hazy bright” day, and noticed how the light from the open door raked across the wood floor. Not knowing how long the light would last, he quickly snapped just two exposures–ignoring the advice he often gave his students, to take multiple images of the same subject.

Black and white photograph of the first floor of Peirce Mill

Llewellyn Berry, Mill Room, 1970

The following day, Berry developed his film to demonstrate the process for his students. On the contact sheet, he immediately noticed the dramatic shadows of the mill interior, and was excited to see this striking composition printed up. Berry would later call the Mill Room his “signature photograph.”

Black and white photograph of a man in brimmed hat and denim jacket leaning against the doorway of an old stone building

Llewellyn Berry, The Miller at Peirce Mill, c. 1970

Llewellyn Berry, Underpinnings Peirce Mill, c. 1970

Underpinnings shows a grain chute and sifter in the mill’s basement. Berry also captured the people of Peirce Mill, including Bob Batte, a retired bus driver who ran the mill in the 1970s.

Man in an old-fashioned hat and overalls sitting next to a potbelly stove.

Llewellyn Berry, Peirce Mill Miller, c. 1970

The identity of this pensive young man in brimmed hat and overalls remains a mystery–he may have been a volunteer at Peirce Mill. He sits next to an old potbelly stove where visitors warmed themselves on colder days. The stove is long gone, but the dramatic light from the window is familiar to anyone who has visited Peirce Mill in sunny weather.

Llewellyn Berry continues to teach photography–though these days his classes are mostly virtual. And he curates exhibitions at the Friendship Gallery in Chevy Chase, DC.