Curt Westergard MN “09 and his company, Digital Design & Imaging Service, Inc., has several large photos illustrating “The Science & Art of Crowd Counting” on display in the Lobby of the National Press Club, on the 13th Floor at 529 14th St. NW, at F Street NW, in downtown Washington.
The exhibit is co-sponsored by CBS News, one of the news organizations that are using Westergard’s photos of large events, especially those on Washington’s National Mall, to report accurate crowd figures.
The exhibit presents the aerial imaging tools and photo analysis strategies used to count crowds at outdoor protests and rallies.
In 2010 the Washington Post’s ombudsman citied the work of Westergard and his company in suppling reporters with accurate figures for crowds instead of the usually-inflated estimates supplied by organizers.
The exhibit includes both actual photos of events and the crowd figures and computer-generated images showing what crowds the size sometimes claimed could look like from the air. For example, one image shows that if a million people were “on the mall” from 3rd street on past the Washington Monument, in an area the 300-foot width of the mall, the crowd would stretch across the Potomac on out to the Ballston area of Arlington.
The Press Club’s 13th floor, where the exhibit is on display, is open to the public as is the Club’s Fourth Estate Restaurant on the same floor.