Dogeared Observations

Sixth Avenue in the west village was a crazy place to be last night, albeit seen through the dangling mouthparts of a giant Ren head. T. excelled with her costume creation (in record speed) & response to us was pretty fantastic overall.

A few realisations during the night though:

1. I fail to be a 'real' photographer in one sense: I'd much rather participate in life on many occassions than simply record it. This isn't news, really. To slot into the classic photographer mold, I think that you need that collector/observer mentality. Personally, I wouldn't swap. The life of the observer/recorder is poorer. On the whole, being in among the craziness of this burst of creativity & expression was superb; the one thing that irked a bit is the (always male) photographers looking merely to collect their images, not interacting at all with their subjects, often rudely getting in yer face, rarely blessed with any social skills, never appreciative of either your being there or indeed finding enjoyment in them being there (that was at least visible). I expect these are the types that more excited about equipment than being creative. They were in the minority, natch, but it was a clear observation.

2. There were some really innovative people abroad, going out on limbs (sometimes severed), thinking in novel ways, and constructing costumes and generally behaving very creatively. This slice of New York is partly what I'm here for, I think. Sadly, they're in the minority because many New Yorkers/Americans/westerners are so obsessed with how others see them and/or their image that they won't make an effort to do anything that sets them apart. I get the feeling that social conformity is increasing. In one way this is fair enough - people want to be accepted, want to fit in. But I still don't think it's healthy when it's so wide spread and persuasive. (T.V. must be to blame for some of this. ) Unhealthy for how society works and unhealthy for individuals - internal conflicts (which we all have) are accentuated when one either isn't allowed or doesn't allow oneself to be true to one's own nature, at least within certain bounds. Is this partly an British ex-pat observation or an age-related one? I'm just very grateful for being able to grow up in a freeer, less conformist, less judgemental social echelon.

3. Attractive, firm-breasted, young women are much more inclined to walk up and hug me when I'm wearing an enormous dog head that obscures my facial features.