Them Carnival People. Part 1

It’s very difficult to focus on a specific topic when your head is spinning and your ear drums are still stuck on the calypso and roots reggae beats from yesterday’s greatest block party, so please bare with me.

Attending the Carnival has become a tradition I have been following rigorously for the past three years and every year it gets wilder, sweatier, hotter and more intriguing. It is the starting point of my portrait photography compulsion only because it’s the best place to see people.

And I mean really see them. Observe them. Step into their world and get a glimpse of their habits, get to know who they really are as individuals as well as a community. But most of all, discover that each character I set eyes on is a unique source of wonder and fascination impossible to recreate in any other environment.

So I guess it’s safe to say I’ve been coming here for the people and their wild freedom dances, energy rushes and…striking epiphanies – I especially love it when they happen and I’ve had quite of few of those. For example, I’ve had moments of deep self-consciousness and panic when, wherever my head turned, I would find myself surrounded by black folk.

[Now, take a deep breath, don’t panic, don’t call Racism Police, I am aware I said “black” but if you’ve been here for awhile, then you already know what a big fan I am and if this is your first time reading my blog, you’re about to find out.]

And I must say…these kind of trips got really weird. And the weirdest thing was that all the smiling chocolate faces were slowly becoming more and more hostile as they were approaching, just like in the movies. Of course, that was only my imagination, but still, I felt less than comfortable realizing that although I was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, I was all alone, with no one to actually understand me. And I know it doesn’t even come close to the atrocities they have endured over the centuries, but somehow, I think I got it. I finally got a taste of what being a minority is.

Other times, these epiphanies would catch up with me somewhere, right in the middle of a crowd, and as I’d get pulled and pushed I’d think about the hundred of thousands of souls inhabiting all these bodies, vibrant masses of flesh of unbelievable potential doomed to eventually vanish and be forgotten about and the waste of existence that all of us are, in the end.

In the end, the Carnival is not for the claustrophobic, weak or easily impressionable.

You will be stepped on, some will try to paint your face, others will throw liquid chocolate at you, your clothes might get shredded beyond repair, there will be unconscious individuals lying on the ground, garbage piles will become shelter for those in need of a place to crash, you will be surrounded by people who have had too much to drink and uncensored public displays of affection, but as a Londoner, you have already gotten used to things. You might even think you’ve seen it all. Still, it’s impossible to list all the reasons why one might still find at least surprised, if not extremely repulsed by the everchanging decor. I can’t tell you how many times I thought “Please, God, please let it be water!” during these past two days.

Even as a Londoner, but especially as a tourist, some scenes will be impossible to unsee.

I myself have witnessed a particular scene that absolutely blew my mind. There was a thirty-something gal, either drunk out of her mind or perfectly sober – I couldn’t tell – sharing a laugh with a guy at a street corner. Judging by their body language and voice tonalities, they were just getting to know each other; they were actually nice to look at as they were talking and flirting – then the girl suddenly pulled down her bikini, squatted and started peeing. The guy grabbed her hand and started to caress her knee as he was whispering all sort of supportive words. When she finished, he looked at her and smiled as if she had saved the world, helped her pull back her panties and threw in some more uplifting words.

I deeply regret not having stuck around to find out the ending to this absolutely unique and inspirational love story, only because I left without looking back, perplexed and repeatedly asking myself what the world has come to – but in hindsight, I actually hope they’re still together today. I mean, a man like that? Nothing would scare him away. And just imagine what a great story to tell their grandchildren that would make.

In my case, there was but one way to get that image out of my mind, so I went back to the crowd, got lost in it and let it swallow me entirely, until it became too hot to breathe or remember anything. But I didn’t fight back. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I’d witness something truly extraordinary.

And I have…