If the Washington National Cathedral had a fan club, Andy Bittner would definitely be its honorary president. He lives and breathes the cathedral and knows it as no one else does. He knows the cathedral’s history inside and out, and he knows every corner and probably every stone in the great building.
Washington native Andy Bittner was born into a house full of cameras in 1962. His father was a U.S. Navy-trained photographer and former member of the White House Press Photographers Association. When Andy was a child, his father was also a drummer in the Washington Scottish Bagpipe Band, whose annual schedule included playing the Kirkin o’ the Tartan, the annual blessing of the Scottish clans in America, at Washington National Cathedral. Some of Andy’s earliest and fondest memories involve attending that event each year and exploring the Cathedral, which was still under construction at the time.
An avid skateboarder from an early age, in the 1980s Andy combined his familial inclination toward photography with his passion for skateboarding. Known to the skateboard world as “GBJ” (long story…), Andy’s photography was eventually published in the top skateboarding magazines of the era (TransWorld, Thrasher, and Power Edge), as well as the popular D.C.-area skate ‘zine, Lapper. Andy’s most recent contributions to skateboard media have been a large amount of photography for a documentary film, “Blood and Steel: The Cedar Crest Story,” currently in production on the west coast.
In the year 2000, after a lifetime of dedicated interest, Andy overcame the reluctance that grew from his awe and volunteered as a docent at Washington National Cathedral. He was quickly recognized for his detailed knowledge of the building and his unique, compelling manner of conveying that information. As a photographer in the cathedral environment, Andy specializes in what he calls “stained light,” where sunlight, colored as it passes through a stained glass window, falls upon the cathedral’s stone architecture. October of 2015 saw the publication of Andy’s first book, Building Washington National Cathedral, a photo-and-caption documentation of the cathedral’s construction, as part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. The book is now available in stores and through Amazon.
In February, 2016, Andy is arranging for a special tour of the cathedral for SSCC members. More information to come soon!