It looks like the Paint Louis artist is about to be squeezed hard by his own creation. This one had the good sense to put up an umbrella on his hydraulic jack platform to protect himself from the brutal afternoon sun. Speaking of which, we expect 38 C / 100 F again this afternoon. And, you know, it's September 15. Didn't use to be this way.
A lot of the artists at Paint Louis use electric-hydraulic jack platforms to reach the upper parts of the wall. They must be quite expensive to rent, and then there is the question of moving them from the rental facility to the riverfront. Some of the budget-minded painters just used tall ladders, which struck me as rather dangerous.
That's what it amounted to, in a way. This photo was taken a week ago, on the second day of work at Paint Louis. Lots of spectators, despite the heat. I went back yesterday and took pictures of the finished products.
Say what you will about the designs themselves, but it takes an awful lot of planning and skill to create all the images that go on the flood wall during Paint Louis. Do these people go to art school or learn as apprentices? They use paint rollers for background color but I've never seen stencils or masks used for the details. But when I'm shooting someone near ground level I have to remember to stay upwind of the spray cans. It could ruin a lens.
Every American who is old enough remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. It is indelible. A few months after the attack, we were flying into Newark to see my family in New Jersey. The usual approach was north to south, parallel to the Hudson River. Seeing the hole in the Manhattan skyline, once so familiar, was one of the few times in my adult life that brought tears to my eyes.
There is an event on Art Hill in Forest Park this week called Flags of Valor, https://flagsofvalorstl.com/. There are something more than 7,000 flags, all in precise rows, each representing a victim of that day and the military personnel who died in the response. Even crusty old me was deeply moved.
The Guinness Book of World Records says that it is the largest graffiti wall anywhere, about 2 miles / 3.2 km long. It gets redone every year over our Labor Day long weekend. I went down on Sunday, the second day of painting. It was hot and my back was cranky so I didn't get as much as I would have liked. Enough to start.
While walking out of the Festival of Nations to our car, we came across this man with his pet monitor lizard. I didn't get the name but I think he said he'd had the reptile for 20 years. The hot day seemed to keep it awake.
Still at the Festival of Nations, a West African dance and rhythm group called Spirit of Angela. So full of energy and lucky to have the shutter speed high enough to catch the dancers in the air.
About this crowded, and there were people still streaming in. It's great that St. Louis has so many festivals and public activities, but the turnout is often so great that an old duffer with a bad back like me has trouble coping, especially when it's hot. Which it always is anymore.
I went to Paint Louis yesterday for a while and got some pix but didn't last very long. I'll go back today for a drive-by, since the painting event will be done, to see what's on the wall. Also went by the neighborhood where the bicycle races were but there was nowhere to park.
Corn dogs are a staple of American carnivals and state fairs. (I've only been to one state fair but it was Texas so it was a hoot.) This comestible is a hot dog pierced by a stick, rolled in mozzarella cheese, coated in corn meal and deep fried. I guarantee you there are no corn dogs in Korea, unless Kim Jong Il arranged for clandestine imports to serve his delicate palate. Patrons of the Festival of Nations didn't care.
That's simply how this group bills itself, or at least how they were listed on the program. Like most places in the U.S., they have plenty of countrymen here. I like the complex rhythms.
There is a lot going on here over our Labor Day long weekend. (There is some irony that we have one.) Daytime high temps are still hovering around 38 C / 100 F, maybe a bit lower by Monday. I'm not going to attempt the colorful Japanese Festival at the Botanical Garden since it is crushingly crowded. There are pro bicycle races, always great to shoot, but will they go forward in the heat? And we have Paint Louis, according to Guinness the longest graffiti wall in the world. Should get some of that.
We didn't see a lot of performers at the Festival of Nations because we didn't stay that long (too crowded, too hot). This performer is identified on the program only as Prasanna Kasthuri but he has a website, https://prasannakasthuri.com/. The DJ-MC described him as a virtuoso of Northern Indian classical dance. He told the audience that this was about or dedicated to the god Ganesha.
The St. Louis International Institute has a big festival in one of our parks over the last weekend in August. There are performances of music and dance from all over the world, with food to match. Usually lots to photograph but it has gotten so crowded over the years we went early on the first day and left by early afternoon. The weather doesn't help. Not quite as bad as Europe, but about 38 C / 100 F every day this week.
Travel does good things to you. It makes you understand that your life and place are unique but not special. I think this is my very best picture, Mt. Everest, taken from base camp on the Tibetan side. Most climbers start in Nepal, but there is a rough road here from the north making access easier. I had bad altitude sickness. The overlook is at about 5,200 meters, 17,000 feet. Two people from our group had to pull me up the last little hill, but I wasn't going to miss the shot. Our guide said it was almost never this clear.
A last image (for now) from the HYBOCOZO exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The caption is the name of this piece. The building on the left is the mausoleum of Henry Shaw, the 19th Century philanthropist who founded the place.
Tomorrow is City Daily Photo's monthly theme day, on the subject of travel. I'll be posting what I think is the best photo of my career.
Close-up of one of the faces of a work in the HYBYCOZO exhibit called Rhombi. It's easier to perceive from farther away but think of the central hexagon as an approximate cube with the nearest corner in the lower right, sitting in a recessed space that fits it.
That's what this one at the HYBYCOZO exhibit at the botanical garden makes be think of. The title of the piece is Point of View. Looks more like a sacred flame.
Something new and interesting to photograph today.
That's the title of this piece at the HYBYCOZO exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The dictionary built into my Mac defines the word as an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping. It sits in front of the Climatron, a geodesic dome with such sophisticated air systems that it contains four different climate zones.
That's the title of this trio of objects in the botanical garden's reflecting pool at the HYBYCOZO exhibit. Can't wait to see it in the evening, lit from within, dancing across the water and lily pads.
