If we had any doubts about DCist Exposed being the kind of event that would draw people out for an evening, you all destroyed them last night. Hundreds of people joined us at Civilian Art Projects to celebrate the opening of our second annual show and see the works of our 44 winning photographers.

Quite a few people arrived before we officially opened, and as you can see in andertho‘s picture above, we were packed in like sardines barely ten minutes after 7 p.m. Soon the folks at Civilian formed a line at the door to keep the gallery from getting any more stuffed, and we quickly heard rumors of lines forming down two flights of stairs and, yes, onto the sidewalk and around the corner. In the rain!

We want to give a huge thank you to everyone who made it to the show last night. The folks at DCist had an absolute blast and we hope you did, too. If you weren’t able to come by, or if you just want to see the photos without having to squeeze past hundreds of people, the gallery is open today during their regular hours, and next Wednesday through Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m. The show runs through March 15. Remember we’ll be having another brief reception on Wednesday after our panel discussion, from 8 to 9 p.m. If you’re interested in purchasing any of the photos in this year’s show, please contact heather [at] dcist.com.

Check out some more pictures from last night’s reception after the jump and even more on Flickr.