Me and My White Shirt at the Carnival With Bill G and The Other Guy
Several years ago I enjoyed photo meet-ups every few weeks with Bill G and another guy. I can’t remember the second guy’s name. We decided to meet for late day and night shots at my Town’s annual carnival. I used my Rollei 35s with a roll of Portra 400. As the sun ebbed, I snapped away inconspicuously.
As an aside I don’t recommend snapping pictures of carnival workers. Many are in the carnival caravan because they want to get un-found. Try it if you dare.
I was wearing a white shirt and Bill’s shirt was not white.
I took 2 shots of young girls on a carousel using left and right motion. I’d done some reading the night before on this technique, hence the experiment. I turned around and shot this image of plummeting thrill seekers using downward camera motion. It was the roll’s only worthwhile image. I call the image “To Hell with Gravity”.
I found Bill G. among the throng of revelers. “We have a problem”, he said. “Two girls on the carousel called the police saying some weirdo wearing a white shirt was taking pictures of kids. The police are here and they are here looking for him.” Knowing the “offender” was me he asked, “What do you want to do?” “Would you like to change shirts?”, I asked. He said no.
I spent the next hour sluicing in the shadows until the police gave up the hunt.
This image was featured in the Film Shooter’s Collective Journal shortly thereafter. Every picture has a story to tell. This is my one-shot story.
@yorkshirekiwi@joysabin Thank you Carole and Joy. It was a surreal experience but I ended up with a serendipitous image. The camera is now in the hands of Gabi Roozee. She is a marvelous photographer and has a post about the camera here. https://gabiroozee.wordpress.com/blog/
December 12th, 2021
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