Sorry. I can't resist.
A couple of commentators have asked if Tomatofest provided support for a good cause and indeed it did. The event was for the benefit of Lift For Life Academy, what we in the US call a charter school. These are usually (but not always) run by not-for-profits in places where the public schools have failed, with a mix of private and government money. The idea and its execution remain controversial - some charters here do better on standardized testing than the public schools and some do worse. Lift For Life seems to be an inspirational place. Its students' test scores exceed those of the state schools in St. Louis and Kansas City.
I thought this event was a lot of fun when I was out being a photographer. Later, with my lawyer mindset creeping back, I had some concerns about it. They were not using old, soft tomatoes. The fruit was fresh and hard. In the photo above, the young woman looks like she was hit close to the kidney. She was fine, but still. Then I realized that the players did not wear eye protection. Look at the children below and think about it.
A couple of commentators have asked if Tomatofest provided support for a good cause and indeed it did. The event was for the benefit of Lift For Life Academy, what we in the US call a charter school. These are usually (but not always) run by not-for-profits in places where the public schools have failed, with a mix of private and government money. The idea and its execution remain controversial - some charters here do better on standardized testing than the public schools and some do worse. Lift For Life seems to be an inspirational place. Its students' test scores exceed those of the state schools in St. Louis and Kansas City.
I thought this event was a lot of fun when I was out being a photographer. Later, with my lawyer mindset creeping back, I had some concerns about it. They were not using old, soft tomatoes. The fruit was fresh and hard. In the photo above, the young woman looks like she was hit close to the kidney. She was fine, but still. Then I realized that the players did not wear eye protection. Look at the children below and think about it.
en France on avait la guerre des boutons, vous avez la guerre des tomates ;o)) les enfants s'amusent bien, j’espère que tu avais protégé ton Appareil Photo ;))
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, Mardi Gras would be a haphasard thing as kids would throw eggs at you on the street. My mother was livid...
ReplyDeletePart of me actually thinks that food should be respected, especially in times of famine elsewhere...
That's me being a spoilsport.
Yes, some tomatoes can be pretty darn hard. Here they have the BEST tomatoes; really good.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I guess this isn't any worse than having a snowball fight without goggles.
Love the photos. This must have been fun. Have a baggie over your camera??
Don't they have a tomato throwing festival somewhere in Europe too, Spain or Italy??? I guess if it's for a good cause. Those kids look like they're having great fun and surely a tomato wouldn't do too much damage. I think they're great fun pictures Bob!!
ReplyDeleteJeeeesh! I survived ALL the mischief I got in w/o eye protection. Let 'em play.
ReplyDeleteIt's only tomatoes... and they look like they are having fun. But yeah, when you think about Somalia (as you mentioned in your previous post) it does seem disrespectful. But then again, this is probably part of your culture... and it's always good to hang on to that.
ReplyDeleteMy first time here and you have a nice blog.
Karen Xavier.
The splat shots are fantastic! There's such motion in every image.
ReplyDeleteP.S. You made me laugh with the Sinatra thing! :-)
As hard as a snowball? Do they wear goggles for snowball fights now? You can't hold a good lawyer down!HA
ReplyDeleteI'm running a shot of a Parisian playground soon that will make some lawyers lick their lips. Not yours of course! :)
V