I’m going to break convention this week and post twice. There was some kind of Italian festival / block party yesterday on Commercial Drive, more or less our backyard. For those of you not up on your Vancouver geography Commercial is a major street in the eastern core of the city. The main artery of what’s called East Van. It’s artsy and rundown in equal parts, all cafés and ethnic restaurants and co-ops and buskers. Anyway the street was closed to traffic for about twenty blocks.
As I’m sure you’ve already guessed I went out to get some photos. It was raining but so far this camera has stood up to the elements like a champ, so I just shielded it with my hand when I could and put my trust in a higher power. It was a total jackpot. People out in droves. Tents set up over food stalls and DJ booths. Impromptu drum circles and dance circles and some that were planned as well. Children by the dozen and all at their most adorable and most excitable. They’re so fun to photograph because they wear everything right out there on their faces. They hold nothing back. I think — in places witnessed — the crowd got a contact high from their children.
Mostly I didn’t try to be low key. So many people had cameras and were taking photos of everything and everyone whether they were acquainted or not. I did as the Romans and just pointed and shot. No one seemed to mind. I only asked one person if I could take his photograph and he declined. It’s a shame. You should have seen his mustache. I did try a lot of hip shots and other such sneaky techniques just to get some practice. They turned out well. In general I’m extremely pleased with this crop of photos. I’ve been processing them today between other pursuits and I’ll finish and post a selection of them tomorrow.
As a follow up to last week’s post, I’ve had a couple writing sessions since and they’ve gone well. (I also forgot to tally April’s and May’s blog posts, which in the manner of consolation prizes were consistent.) I’m closer to untangling whatever knot I’ve got myself tied up in, and it’s work more than thinking about work that’s done it. Thanks for the encouragement again. Next step: get the sessions happening regularly.
~J
