The Festival! Day Two.

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,

a beautiful day for a neighbor..."





The hustling and bustling of the festival was in full swing upon my arrival at around 10:30 a.m. I hurriedly broke out my camera and began setting it to gain the best possible picture from the brilliant sunlight of the day. There was so much already going on, hoards of people were gallivanting around, probably trying to acclimate themselves to the bustle as well, so many activities on each stage, at each tent; it was difficult to choose where to start. So I just jumped in head first…



Mulan was on the Yellow Stage outside the entrance to the theatre. Grace St. Luke’s Episcopal School was performing various segments of the movie/musical.



And while I think that every event presents an opportunity to get a great shot, I honestly wasn’t particularly excited about this one; mostly due to the fact that it felt like I was taking school portraits for the parents of these children- it just felt a little uninspired; the talent of the singers, however, was not, these kids could really belt it out. (Later on, I would get pictures of their performance on the main stage inside the theatre that had slightly more potential.) However, I did like capturing some of the audience as they watched the show. Like this kid,



My next stop was Music for Aardvarks, an interactive music program for children that originated in New York City by one David Weinstone (composer/musician, father of three). Families gathered in large numbers on the Red Stage indoors to participate in the event. He intermittently walked around singing with a portable bubble machine (genius!), keeping the kids entertained whilst they cleaned up the various toys that they had just been playing with, singing and dancing all the time.
(http://www.memphisaardvarks.com/)
Then Weinstone sat down amongst them and played songs on his guitar…the kids were so jazzed.



I caught a picture of a girl underneath a giant circus-type tarp as well.



Besides the indoor/outdoor bubble machines,

I believe this was the place that I saw the kids the most excited. It was so exhilarating that it kept this little girl dancing throughout the day, “taking it to the streets…”



So many events were occurring simultaneously, I hurried about the place trying to capture what I could. And I definitely wanted to take some more pictures of the encore Watoto performance.

My next stop was the Mime Show! by Darius Wallace (actually a former customer of mine from my stint at Starbuck’s). I had known that he was a talented writer and that he was working on a movie in town, but I had no idea he was also a mime! And usually, I have to be honest, mimes give me the heebie-jeebies; but Darius wasn’t following me around an open square, mocking my every move, so I was totally into it.

Using black and white seemed appropriate given that the entire stage was dressed in black and his face was painted bright white…I thought the contrast would more likely capture the bare emotion that he was displaying (which is inherent in miming, right?)

Later, he would incorporate the audience into his miming; but luckily, I was too busy photographing.

I ventured back outside soon afterward; wanting to take some more shots of children at play (at the Japanese culture tent, the face painting tent, the storytelling tent, etc.)

I love how they had mini-lounging areas for the children to rest.

A couple more pictures of my good friend's neice, Laila.

The final performance that I was able to shoot (before the storm and a lack of film and extra camera battery- a mistake I will not make again if my budget allows- chased me back home) was the Pandora’s Box and Other Greek Tales play that I was unable to shoot the night before. I really think that this gave me an advantage, as I knew the performance well enough to anticipate the shots that I wanted to attain. Here are a few of my favorites:

The lighting could have been slightly better on this one, but I was determined not to use a flash and ruin the ambient lighting as well as the audience's connection to the performance; so I used a slower shutter speed and left the aperture wiiide open.

Alas, these were the final shots of the day. And while there was more festival to be had, a severe storm cleared the outside events and sort of cleared me out of there as well, along with a large number of visitors.
I had such a great time wandering around the festival grounds and being what Jerre Dye referred to as, “the ghost of the event”, as it seemed that I was drifting about everywhere, never making my presence an interference, so to speak. It allowed me to practice photojournalistic skills, meet new people, interact with the Memphis community and really enjoy some of the immense talent that our fair city has to offer.

All in all, it was indeed a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

The Festival! Day One.

When I first arrived at the McCoy Theatre on Friday night, I thought, “Where exactly do I start?” Luckily, I showed up early enough to acclimate myself, absorb the atmosphere (though it was undoubtedly going to change as people would filter in), and photograph the brightly colored streamers and balloons, benches, empty stages, tents, and umbrellas, that though at first glance seemed ghost-townish, had a warm expectancy and hospitality to them that seemed to beckon its future guests to join them in festivity.






Not wanting to seem a stranger floating singly amongst this “ghost town”, I soon made contact with the Director of Voices of the South, Jerre Dye, to see if he had any specific direction for the shots that he wanted. He warmly welcomed me and then quickly led me around the vicinity of the festival, labeling each section or stage area. Offering no real direction, except for wanting pictures of actors post-performance if possible and some of the families in attendance, he soon left me to my devices, simply stating, “Now you just go do…what you do.”


I love how this photograph seems off balance, like I should have gone a little to the left. However, if you look at the fountain, you will notice that it is balanced; the McCoy entrance actually goes downhill into the theatre space. Intentional or not, I love architecture that assumes a different plane or level-when you enter it, you have entered a completely new space, a new reality, so to speak, which is perfect for a theatre; it is a different reality that one should ascend, or in this case, descend into. (How to interpret that it goes down hill, well, I will leave that up to the visitor.)

I strategically drifted around the entrance to McCoy, which also happened to be the locale of the “Super Bubble” machine as well as the fountain (it’s essentially like leaving breadcrumbs). As I wandered around the perimeter, other actors and volunteers began showing up and the festival slowly began taking shape. Two actors and a guy in stilts offered their expertise at the front entrance and became the Festival’s Welcome Wagon of sorts, dressing up in an array of costumes and acting out various roles or personas.



They also attempted to costume the guests; and they were sometimes successful.



The Festival officially began at 6:00 p.m., with performances starting at about 7:00 p.m. inside the theatre. Later, I was instructed that indoor performances would not be shot that night. Though I did not use a flash all weekend, I think their primary concern was that I would and interrupt the performance in the process. Alas, I was never able to track Jerre down to inquire further about this, so I primarily concerned myself with family portraits, children at play, and the interaction of the actors and families- essentially, the atmosphere of the event.


I completely understand how she feels.

Late afternoon lighting is superb to shoot in, particularly given that it is (supposedly) spring here in Memphis, the sunlight is much warmer, less hostile than summer or early afternoon light; it allowed me to close the aperture a bit (about 5.6 to 7.1, gaining a wider focus), and maintain a somewhat fast shutter speed (from 125 in shade/partial light to 200 in direct sun) in order to capture the action but not lose the movement and liveliness of the event,



as well as obtain great moments that would have otherwise been lost,



Scavenging the Theatre's flower beds for mom. Awww.

and it allowed me to capture what is possibly my favorite picture of the entire event.


The chase itself follows the curvature of the path; and while the image is mostly in focus, their motion slightly suspended (you can see that her foot is slightly blurred, as well as her hair), you do not lose the movement and momentum of the action. Lucky to be there at the right time.

The two main performances of the evening were Pandora’s Box, plays from the Voices of the South actors, and Watoto de Afrika (Swahili for children of Africa), a group of dancers/ performers/ singers/ musicians comprised of children and young adults.

Though I did not photograph Pandora’s Box, as previously explained, I did manage to get some shots of Watoto de Afrika for the festival after party celebration. (It was also indoors, but on the back stage of the theatre.) The staging was less formal, dressed in black drapery, with black concrete floors, black walls and ceiling, with simple track lighting directly overhead; it was the perfect backdrop to emphasizing the vibrant hues and intricate patterns of the African dress.



Families and friends of the performers were taking pictures and videotaping, so I was able to participate as well. I still did not use a flash, as I wanted to gain mastery in light compensation and bolstering other tricks of the camera. (It was also essential to me that I did not interfere with the performance or the audience’s connection to it.) The dancing was incredibly physical and the emotional intensity with which they performed was unbelievably moving.



The sound of the drumbeats created by an enormously talented host of young men further engrossed the audience in the performance, echoing and fostering the dancers’ fervor.







The director of the Watoto de Afrika, Donald O’Connor, followed up the performances with a brief history and other information about the program.
(For more information, you should check out their website at http://www.watotomemphis.com/)



The evening was then concluded with great thanks for those in attendance and much anticipation for the following day’s festivities. The introduction to the festival was over, but the biggest part was yet to come.

As for me, I was in a feverish rush to get home and look over my work, so I knew what I needed to photograph for the next day or what I needed to improve upon. But not before visiting Ms. Joe at our version of St. Elmo’s Fire and having a pint of yellow beer to settle into the night and reflect on the first time I had ever professionally volunteered to shoot an event---it was exhilarating.


“To be continued…”