Washington is one of the world’s most photographed and photogenic cities, and the subject of many photo books: from glossy souvenirs that never stray far from postcard views, to more local-minded work by the likes of Carol Highsmith, who documented the decay and restoration of the Willard Hotel, and the late Fred Maroon. Soon to join the latter ranks will be our DCist Exposed magazine — but while you eagerly await that, a new book by local photographer John Gossage, the subject of a recent show at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, as well as a DCist interview, will more than whet your apetite for the city beyond the postcard.

In the early 1980s, John Gossage photographed a small pond on his commute between Washington and Queenstown, Maryland. Or so goes the story. These images went into his first and now classic book, The Pond, and are gathered for the first time in a gallery setting at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The handsome volume was first released in 1985 by Aperture, and is slated for re-release later this month.