Halloween is so popular in this country anymore (all shaped by insidious corporate marketing, do doubt). People pretend to be everything from hobgoblins to hookers, parade about in public or at parties and, in the current version of the practice, drink rather a lot. It wasn't like this when I was a kid. We just slapped on whatever your mom bought at Woolworth's and went out in bands of little beggars. It was simply about the candy.
I go shoot the big Halloween street party in our Central West End neighborhood every year. The crush of bodies can become intolerable, unless you get a rise out of close physical contact with the Super Mario Brothers. Obviously we are in a substantial minority, but Mrs. C and I just don't get it. I'd have about as much fun spending a Saturday night dressed as a pirate than as a trial lawyer. The last time I went to a costume party about 25 years ago, I got a Los Angeles Angels baseball jersey and made a paperboard miter that said "We Accept Visa And MasterCard" on it and went as the pope.
I go shoot the big Halloween street party in our Central West End neighborhood every year. The crush of bodies can become intolerable, unless you get a rise out of close physical contact with the Super Mario Brothers. Obviously we are in a substantial minority, but Mrs. C and I just don't get it. I'd have about as much fun spending a Saturday night dressed as a pirate than as a trial lawyer. The last time I went to a costume party about 25 years ago, I got a Los Angeles Angels baseball jersey and made a paperboard miter that said "We Accept Visa And MasterCard" on it and went as the pope.
These are fun - original. The tradition of Halloween is creeping into France too. I saw a few items for sale - for kids - in the supermarket the other day. Don't believe they know 'trick or treating' tho.
ReplyDeleteReally like both these photos, Bob.
There is a secretary in our office who competes on a roller derby team. Yesterday her team had a match in he coliseum at the State Fair. Because of Halloween, they dressed up as clowns. Other women dressed up as roller derby contestants. One person's uniform is another person's costume.
ReplyDeleteNice teeth!! Top shot is so vibrant Bob!
ReplyDeleteThose are some creative costumes! Very nice portraits.
ReplyDeleteGreat portraits, Bob.
ReplyDeleteI would certainly cover an event like this one each year if I had a chance - despite the crowd it seems like a photographer's dream.
Last time I donned a costume on was..... oooooh a long time ago!
Party pooper! (I quit Halloween myself in sixth grade, 1963, on the way to a trick-or-treat meetup -- Halloween suddenly struck me as, such, kid's stuff.) The uptick in celebration among adults here befuddles me, too, but it seems pretty grassroots and innocuous -- no commercial / corporate conspiracy theory required -- tho' the brewers, costume dealers, and bar owners are doubtless thrilled.
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