2011 in review – Thank you & Happy New Year from Studio Lafoncette Photography
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,700 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Photo of The Week (49/52): Eat Something Before Yuh Go
Dear blog family,
Sorry Ive been away for so long. Just had a few non-blogging things to do. Feast your eyes today on traditional Trini Christmas fare. We call them pastelles, they’re called arepas in Venezuela I believe. They are very similar to Latin American tamales, except the meat isn’t ground into the cornmeal, it is wrapped in a shell made of finely ground cornmeal, then wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. Both taste yummy, and no Christmas in Trinidad and Tobago would be complete without these.
Oh, and of course you can always wash them down with a glass of sorrel.
Enjoy!
L
Fall: Early Hibernation
Hello folks,
Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I’ve been embroiled in too many things to recount here with photos. It’s autumn in the northern parts of the world, which means often, beautiful colours on the trees. I’ve been spying these flowers for the past two years, but they grow on the curb of a very busy intersection and I always see them when I’m in a car or bus, never walking. It took some effort but I finally was able to capture them this year. For your pleasure, I’ve added the lagniappe of a few fall leaves. Haven’t seen this particular colour growing anywhere else like this. Can you tell me what they are?
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (39/52) – Fall is Here
Pumpkins at the pumpkin patch (edited to look “spookier” 
)
Fall is here. Time for spooky stories, and spooky pumpkins, spooky tours and spooky candy. All of a sudden the whole world should make sense (we’ll all be livin’ in scary).
Enjoy
(your weekend)
Photo of the Week (38/52) & WordPress Photo Challenge: Sunset
This capit0l at sunset. You wouldn’t know the changes this city has seen just by looking at this.
Enjoy your weekend
L
Photo of the Week (37/52)
So I owe you a photo of the week. I’ve been meaning to post this photo for quite some time. No story behind it, except it was taken at the New Orleans Jazz Fest 2011 and I like it.
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (37/52): Weekly Photo Challenge – Faces
Blue Devil Belles
They were really too cute to be scary. I had to ask them to make scary faces. Taken on Carnival Monday 2011 in Paramin, Trinidad, WI. Home of the Paramin Blue Devils.
Photo of the Week (36/52): Masquerader of the Week
This wraps up a week of photos about NY Labor Day Carnival. On Saturday I witnessed an amazing young lady, 15-year-old Tashima Martin, school everyone on what it is to play mas. Her portrayal was African Spirit. Tashima took to the stage almost in flight. She handled her relatively large costume like it was a skirt around her waist and a pair of wings. I don’t know how long she’s been playing mas, but it was amazing to watch this costume take on a life of it’s own and command the stage. The photo doesn’t do justice. Mas is alive and well in the hands of young people like her.
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (35/52) Enjoy Yuhself
Carnival pilgrims head north this weekend for another journey to a sacred space, to remember their heritage, take pride in national origins, to fete and wine. Take a moment to inhale the air of revelry, the countless man hours, innovation and dedication that went into making another North-American carnival, take a moment to think about what Labor Day really is. And in the meantime
Enjoy yuhself
L
Oh, and here’s de langniappe
Images from Labor Day in Brooklyn
L
Photo of the Week 35/52: A moment
The sudden heavy downpour last Sunday gave me a moment to sit still, to reflect, to watch. Luckily, my activities at that point were indoors, so I was sheltered from the power of the water thrashing the earth. The earthquake earlier this week was harmless but sent a scare through people on the east coast who aren’t used to such a thing, and haven’t experienced one before. Things like that remind us of nature’s power and how we are tiny in our existence in this universe. With the impending hurricane/tropical storm heading our way this weekend, I hope you are safe and prepared, and if nature’s wrath interupts your usual business, be it hanging out in person or on social networks, or shopping, take a moment to enjoy everything else.
Peace
L
Photo of the Week 34/52: (Is Jus’ ah Photo*)
Faces of DC (Carnival)
The above photos were taken in a neighborhood called Petworth, in NW DC during DC Carnival 2010. I have no idea of whether these are locals or not, they’re just faces in Petworth, having a good time during DC Carnival. This was my inspiration: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-surprising-look-at-faces-of-petworth/2011/08/12/gIQAxMZXOJ_story.html
Enjoy your weekend
I’ll be walking around (maybe Petworth) with my camera
Peace!
L
*Title inspired by Earl Lovelace’s most recent novel, Is Just a Movie, a novel set in a “society where political leaders are self-serving and the villagers are voiceless, often self-defeating.” (The cynic in me says, “Isn’t that everywhere?”).
Excerpt taken from the review of the novel on www.repeatingislands.com see link above for full review.
Photo of the Week (33/52) Good. Just Good.
Red Baarat at the Jazz & Heritage Stage, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2011
The end of one good opportunity led to me seeing these guys perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. If the photo pit at the stage on which John Legend was performing didn’t close early I wouldn’t have gotten to see Mos Def (the greatest!) or heard Red Baarat. Which just goes to show, one door closes and sometimes it’s opening up other opportunities. Red Baarat is a wild, energetic mix of Bhangra and jazz with serious drumming and horns to compliment Punjabi beats. They performed at the Strathmore free summer concert series this past week and they were true to form. If you ever hear that Red Baarat is in town, and you like jazz, Bhangra, something different, you should check them out. In the meantime, it’s the weekend!
And just because I like to give you a little lagniappe, here are a couple more of them:
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (32/52) – Serpent from Another Realm
Ah ain’t go lie, this costume is cool. It has wings that move up and down and it seemed this was being manipulated by the masquerader with the use of a button. How clever. I’ve noticed a growing trend in huge costumes which upon site have the wow factor. But I wonder about what seems to me (IMHO) like a stagnation of “mas technology”. What is that you ask? Well, a crucial aspect of Trinidad carnival is that we wear mas. Although several non-Trinis refer to floats (which really comes from people in costume on top a flatbed truck – like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) what we have is mas which comes from masking, and the African tradition of wearing the mas, becoming the spirit embodied in the mas. How innovative are we as 21st century mas people if the technology has only gotten so good as welding more iron and making it move up and down.
Last weekend at Caribana I spotted the masquerader above pulling her costume forward foot by foot. She was tired and it was just too heavy at the end of the route to pull by wearing the harness, so she took it off and grabbed the straps and she was pulling it along bit by bit. I wondered how come no one from the band was helping – security, the customary handlers they have with bigger costumes. So I pitched in to help her out with a couple pulls. Boy was that sucker heavy! It was ridiculously heavy! And this is from someone who walks miles with 30-odd lbs on her back. I’m surprised, and I wonder why the challenge to make lighter costumes hasn’t been met yet.
I would like to see engineers, architects, physicists, and artists working together on how to improve bigger, better lighter mas to be carried by the masquerader rather than predominantly on wheels. Some Trinidadian mas men have been able to accomplish this with medium sized costumes (relative to these gigantic things) but maybe we can do more.
Okay enough of my rambling. Next time less talk more photos
Enjoy
L
And a footnote: I attempted a google search from my job today using the words “Caribana bands”. I wanted to see a list of the bands that registered. The site that comes up at the top of the searches seems to be the sensible choice: www.caribanatoronto.com/masbands. However, it was blocked because the site is listed as “lingere/bikini, entertainment. Ha! Go figure culture people. Dat is we culture: lingere/bikini, entertainment. Wow. Deep.
Peace!
Water: A Thunderous Praise Song
If you’re lucky enough to start your morning with something as wonderous, as magnificent and overwhelming as this (or whatever it is that moves you), remember the Creative life force, remember the divine in you. Give thanks for life and living.
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (30/52) You Choose
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It’s hot out there, so whatever you do, even if you don’t have the freedom to run through a cool fountain like this one, take care of yourself.
Hitting the 8000 hit mark today folks so in celebration, you get to choose which of these is your photo of the week. Put the number in the comments box please.
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week: Connected to the Divine (Artscape This Weekend)
Drummer performing outdoors at Artscape
Fantasia gave it all for her fans at the New Orleans Jazz Fest earlier this year, and I expect she’ll do the same tonight at Artscape.
Many of you have seen the leading photo before, but as they say, sometimes it so nice yuh have to do it twice. The energy, the vibe the spirit from this young drummer led me to name the photo Connected to the Divine. He seemed to be in that sacred space where sometimes only music or rhythm can take you. I shot it at Artscape in Baltimore. A few years ago Artscape was one of the things that inspired me to do more with my creativity. Here’s to artistic spirit.
If you’re in the DC/Baltimore Metro area this weekend, head down to Baltimore for a weekend visual and performing art extravaganza. There’ll be live performances, street theatre, opera, African and modern dance, and scores of craft vendors and artists selling their wares on the streets near MICA. I hear Fantasia is performing on Friday night, and many of the performances are free. Check it out.
And by the way
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (27/52) Hot & Sweet
I love summer – hot, sweet and juicy like these pineapples at the market, cookouts, festivals, North American carnivals, ice cream and peaches.
Here’s to your weekend
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (26/52): It takes many
DC Carnival 2011
This child has been playing mas for the past 3 years at least, probably more, but I recognise her from the past three carnivals (see photos below). Compounding all of the problems that encumbered this year’s DC Caribbean Carnival, was the dearth of mas. The bands were rushed down the streets (strong-armed by the authorities according to callers on WPFW’s Caribbeana), and there were fewer masqueraders. So quite early in the day there tens of thousands of disappointed spectators expecting mas. A recipe for problems – at the least, people deciding the carnival is crap and they won’t bother to spend money to attend in the future, at worst, opportunities for trouble.
So today’s photo of the week salutes this young masquerader and others like her, her parents, the mas makers and people who make mas on the streets of DC carnival happen. Remember, if there is no mas, we have no carnival, just fetes, and really, there’s nothing original about that.
Peace
L
DC Carnival Dimanche Gras 2009
DC Carnival Dimanche Gras 2010
Photo of the Week (25/52)
Tomorrow DC Mas jumbies come out to play. Stop by Sankofa Video and Books at 2714 Georgia Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20001 to purchase prints or cards of carnival images from Studio Lafoncette Photography.
Photo of the Week (24/52): Carry Me on Your Shoulders
This was for Daddy day. She’s on top of the world, the crowds ain’t got nothin’ on her.
Taken during the Labor Day parade in Brooklyn, NY, September 2010.
Photo of the Week (23/52) – (WordPress Photo Challenge: Morning)
Just in case you have to wake up extra early on the weekend, there’s consolation that you’ll get to see beautiful vistas that only the early birds share.
Enjoy
L
Dawn on the lake at Camp Kekoka, Kilmarnock, VA
Photo of the Week (21/52)
This week, lets begin to focus on DC Carnival since it’s really going to happen. The photo below is one of several of mine on exhibit at the New Horizons Gallery at Children’s National Medical Center. Exhibit ends June 17. Stop by and have a look, it’s free to look. Contact gallery staff listed in the atrium about purchasing any piece you see on exhibit.
Now, wouldn’t it be nice to have an exhibit, like for example, a decent photo exhibit, showcasing what Caribbean carnival is all about, particularly showcasing DC Caribbean Carnival. After all, by the time it gets down to Banneker field it’s crowd, mud and random strings and plumes. No wonder even Caribbean-American babies think carnival is all about floats, flags representing your country and dancing in the street. Wonder where we could find that type of material to put on an exhibit, hmm….
I’m just sayin’! 
Peace
L
