It was the day before St. Patrick’s Day parade in
Baltimore and the gray skies opened up for a short time. Clouds moved in and I
took my 1948 Rolleiflex for a “walk”. This time, I used a deep red filter to capture
the clouds.
Well, it was cold and windy by the ocean, and the
Fort McHenry Park was practically empty. Eager to click at least once, I
decided to take a picture of Orpheus. On my way back, I decided to continue the
“statue” theme the next day, during the St. Patrick’s Day. Could I capture “statue-like”
people instead of taking relatively boring parade pictures?
… On April 16 the skies were gray again and a snow
storm expected during the evening hours. A band was playing Irish music and the
crowd was all red-head girls and men in kilts. Irish sausage, beer, and green
hats were everywhere.
I was still looking for my “statues”. Went behind the band’s stage and I thought
that the bass player was photogenic enough for me to wait for the right pose.
Then I thought “a halo above his head is appropriate for St. Patrick”. As if to
help me with my “theme du jour”, he moved between the two cymbals for a double-halo, and even raised his guitar for a second to
become my first statue.
Then, when the band stopped playing, two of its
members were about to come down the stage. The waist-level view of my camera
gave me a special angle to capture them along with a female member of the team (I assume). Focusing is slightly off, it was taken contre-jour, but gives an old-times' feel to the picture. The bass player is there again, this time in a rather dramatic statuesque posture.
On my way home I passed by the Inner Harbor and
there was my last statue, this time including a dog watching the Harbor with a
curiosity to match his masters’. Would this qualify as a statue representing the await of St. Patrick arriving by sea?
It was the last of 12 frames left on my film roll, and I was curious to see what my dark room would show when I develop the film.
It was the last of 12 frames left on my film roll, and I was curious to see what my dark room would show when I develop the film.
..When I looked at the negatives, I smiled thinking
that probably no one would take these pictures to represent St. Patrick’s Day Parade…!
March 17, 2014
© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014
you have made "old looking" pictures from the future! - the rest of the world is still in March! :)
ReplyDelete... and the dog´s masters are definitely Slavs, she looks like Ukrainian nurse
Orpheus's charming powers worked on you and your camera. I wish I had such influence on people and things.
ReplyDelete