American Festivals Project

As many of you may have noted from the last post of quiet pictures, I was in Ocean City, NJ for none other than the 21st Annual Quiet Festival.  Yes, the Quiet Festival.  What exactly happens at the quiet festival?  Well, not too much to be quite honest.  However, as slow and uneventful as the weekend turned out to be, the few events that did take place were very entertaining.  The festival is so small and so quiet that every local I asked had never heard of it before.  But that didn’t dissuade me from noting this as a successful festival.  Besides, I am searching for hidden festivals.

The mastermind behind the Q.F. is none other than the Ocean City’s Publicist, Mark Soifer (below, center, dark blue sweatshirt).  At 76, he has a notorious record for creating unique events in Ocean City–the Q.F. probably being the smallest and least attended.

Soifer was recently named the president of the National Association of Tired People (NAP), a group that he founded about three years ago.  Because there is no official voting process for the board members of NAP, Soifer will continue to be president until he becomes tired of being president.

“I’ve been tired for about 40 years now,” he said upon accepting his nomination. “I feel uniquely qualified to represent the millions of tired folks in this nation and the world.”

The Q.F. starts on Friday afternoon with a yawn and song in front of City Hall.  A group of ‘talented individuals’ called the Yawn Alongers yawn to Beautiful Dreamer, a tune that Soifer wrote himself.  After the song, the Yawn Alongers and NAP members throw maple leaves (helicoptor leaves) into the air and watch them fall to the ground.  Despite this seemingly quiet event, there was actually a lot of commotion.  Bystanders offered their comments, locals drove by honking, and most of the participants were so amused by their own actions that they never stopped talking or laughing.

There were a number of other events throughout the weekend, but most involved visits to schools and nursing homes in an effort to bring the Q.F. to people who would not normally enjoy it.  During the weekend, Soifer encouraged leaf-squeezing, paper airplane-making, pin-dropping, and pet-petting.

The only other visually interesting event from the weekend was the Wind Chime Symphony on Saturday afternoon.  The sky was dark and the wind was blowing misty sprays off the ocean.  It was a perfect day for wind chimes.

Ted Prior (Elvis) has been friends with Soifer for 20+ years.  He’s a staple participant at most of Soifer’s crazy events.  At lunch one day, he told me the story of when he was a limo driver and he drove Johnny Cash to a concert.  Ted popped in a video of himself performing Elvis, and Cash loved it.  He autographed a photograph and wrote on it, “To Ted, the best Elvis act I’ve ever seen.”

Mark Soifer, the mastermind behind it all, allows the ocean breeze to conduct its own symphony.

Angola prison, notorious for once being the most violent prison in the U.S., is now home to the famous prison rodeo and hobbycraft sale.  Held in April and October, the rodeo and hobbycraft sale provide a way for low and medium security inmates to get a break from their regular schedule and possibly earn some extra cash.  The privilege to participate in these events has produced an incredible record of good behavior amongst the inmates.  This 18,000 acre prison now has one of the best records in the U.S. prison system, due in part to these two bi-annual events which create quite the buzz in Louisiana and beyond.

Angola is a maximum security prison, however the majority of the inmates live in dormitory style quarters.  78% of the inmates have life sentences.  Angola is a working farm and produces enough food for the inmates and surrounding jails.  The warden estimates that the facility spends only $1.41 each day feeding one inmate.  Angola also has the country’s only prison radio station.

Photographing at this event proved to be a difficult task.  I was told in my communications with the media relations people that we would have limited access to the rodeo, but I did not know the guidelines would be so strict.  When we arrived at the prison and entered through the media gate, (our bags were never checked, which I thought was very strange), we were assigned to a liaison, who then followed us throughout the day monitoring our actions.  I had to request the signature and permission of any inmate included in a photograph; I was not allowed behind any of the fences; I was only allowed to ask certain questions of the inmates.  Our media relations person stuck to our backs like glue.  It felt very restrictive, and only allowed for straight-forward portraiture.

Getting access has become one of the most difficult aspect of this festival project.  It sounds resentful, but it feels that each festival has a staff person solely designated to make the job of a photographer as difficult as possible.

The hobbycraft sale takes place outside the rodeo arena and is so popular that people buy tickets just to shop at this event.  Throughout the year, the inmates make an assortment of items to sell in April and October.  The goods ranged from furniture, to jewelry, to nick-knacks, and art.  Angola prison receives 15% of the sales, while the rest goes directly to the inmate.  The low-security inmates are free to openly sell their goods at a table in the hobbycraft market.  Sometimes it was hard for me to determine of a gentleman was an inmate or a customer.  The man pictured above was selling his jewelry as his wife sat beside him.  Angola prison allows these rare kind of privileges to many of the low-security inmates, which has in effect has set an example for a new form of prison management in the U.S.

This man explained to me that his 4×8 foot painting on a piece of plywood was commissioned for a church, but the pastor backed out of the deal.  He was hoping to find a new church home for the painting.  The price: $350.

Medium security inmates are not allowed beyond a fence when selling their goods.  They have to resort to heckling the crowds from a distance to get people’s attention.

Another aspect of the day are the food vendors maintained by the inmates.  The vendors are associated with a club or chapter of the Angola prison and the proceeds help to support their activities.  Above, the Social Advancement Club offers Oyster Poboys.  Our media liaison told me that the formation of these clubs reduces the number of gangs amongst the inmates.

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The prison rodeo is a very exciting event.  Nearly 4,000 people pack into a sunny arena after filling their bellies on fried fair food.  The inmates participating in the rodeo wait near a section of bleachers for the rodeo to begin.  This is the fourth rodeo in the month of October.  They’ve been competing all along, and today decides some of the big-money winners.  None of the inmates are trained bull riders, nor do they get to practice before the event.  It is extremely dangerous, and in my opinion, possibly suicidal.  Perhaps that’s why these inmates choose to participate.

PORTRAITS

I was not too interested in the actual rodeo itself because it was so bright and was run like any other rodeo one would see in the U.S.  It was certainly exciting to watch though!  I think these inmates were so desperate to win money, or more willing to risk their lives, that they took some serious chances.  Above, a bull charges through a group of inmates during the ‘poker table’ event, in which the last person to move from their seat wins.  It allowed for serious bull-to-human collisions!

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

Matt and I spent a few days in Baton Rouge, LA with my old high school friend Austin.  He showed us a really great time.  We enjoyed an epic tailgating party at LSU, where the Oceanography department serves up steaming pots of shrimp, potatoes, corn, green beans, and pineapple.  Oh man!

Doughnut stop.

Austin took us out for a day in the Sabine National Wildlife Preserve to assist with marine research.  We joined two other graduate students from LSU.  The mode of transportation was by air boat, which is like riding a sea-doo and airplane combined.  What a blast!  It was a little scary at first zooming across the water at 40 mph, aimed directly for a piece of dry land. I thought we would certainly crash.  However, the air boat is designed with a sharply arched bow that allows the craft to easily glide onto the dry land.  The pilot even has the ability to spray soap on the underside of the craft to keep it lubricated when crossing large sectionsof grass.  Talk about loud too!  Everyone must wear ear protection.

The guys were helping John (background) gather samples of marine life for his graduate research.  We collected samples from eight different locations throughout the day.  The square pvc box in the foreground is like a net that is thrown from the boat and traps things inside of it by sinking into the mud.  Once the trap is thrown, two people work to gather whatever may have been caught.  We would typically find tiny shrimp, tiny fish, and tiny crabs.  Not too exciting, but certainly interesting.

There are a number of samples taken from each location.  Above, John is taking a square sample of grass to analyze back in the lab.  He also collects mud samples.

Here, Austin and Shannon are executing another form of collecting marine samples.  A pair works together to drag the net 12 steps along the shore, then gather whatever is caught from the net and place it in a zip lock bag to be labeled.

Sometimes the air boat would get stuck.  Above, we had jumped out of the boat to make the load lighter, when Shannon the driver suddenly tore away with the fan faced directly at us.  It suddenly felt like being in a hurricane.  The tiny particles from the tall grass felt like needles spraying against our skin.  The power from those air boats is incredible!  But what an educational day was had with some very cool guys.  Thanks Austin for your hospitality tour-guiding expertise!

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

In New Orleans we were hosted by my old high school friend Kamau, and his wife Shelina.  They were very generous to share their bathroom with us, even though they are still in the process of remodeling after their house was damaged in hurricane Katrina.  It was the beautiful Shelina who turned me onto the idea of photographing the local Halloween party on Frenchman St.  She would know what to do and when, since she is from New Orleans and knows just about everyone in town.  Kamau is on his way to being a very talented doctor, with a specialization in radiology.  Go Kamau!

A visit to New Orlean’s beautiful graveyards.

I met this guy below when riding my bike somewhere near Esplanade St.  He was performing some strange ceremony in front of this very old and abandoned Masons building.  He asked me to take his picture, and then I quickly rode along.

Palm reading lessons–part of a historical night tour in the French Quarter that I stumbled upon.

Notice this guy’s name is ‘Love’.  I asked him if that was his real name and he assured me it was.

Dr. Foderingham bustin’ a move.

HOUSTON, TEXAS

The studio of David Adicke.  Presidents heads, lots of them.

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the Day of the Dead parade in New Orleans.  About 100 people took part in a somewhat impromptu parade.  Skeletons on bikes rolled up on a dark corner just east of the French District.  Ornate, white buffaloes slumbered down the street.  A ghostly band slowly formed.  A crowd gathered.  The parade commenced!

Friends, it has been a while since the last post.  A lot has transpired since.  Travels in the deep South; trampin’ the swamps of Louisiana; a prison rodeo; a long drive to Texas; and Halloween celebrations in New Orleans.  For now, I share with you the pictures from Halloween.

Our friend Grass was a great host in Baton Rouge, LA.  He assisted us with his own, finely filtered veggie oil to help get us to New Orleans.  I offered him a print, but all he wanted was to make the blog.  Many thanks, Grass (and nice costume)!

My friend Austin (right) joined us in New Orleans for Halloween.  He and his buddy Brandon dressed up like ER doctors and brought mayhem to the streets of N’orleans.  It was good to have them along…

I reluctantly dressed up in a costume supplied by Austin, but by the end of the night grew to love it!  The streets of N’orleans were so crazy and filled with costumes that I hardly stuck out.  However, a number of people liked grabbing my various ‘fat rolls’ and other body parts that I won’t expand on.

Plenty of beer flowed through the streets of the French district.

Halloween night in N’orleans was perhaps one of the most enjoyable, yet crazy nights of my life.  There are no words to describe the atmosphere.  Everywhere you looked there was someone dressed in an extravagant costume.  Frenchman St. was so crowded you could hardly move about.  Everyone was drinking on the streets.  Brass bands marched the littered streets blasting deep-souled tunes across the surging crowds.  You could walk up to anyone and start a conversation.  People were friendly; everyone was excited; the party burned into the wee hours of morning..

Here’s another recap from two weeks ago in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of North Carolina.  We were in Banner Elk to photograph the Wooly Worm Festival, and were joined by friends for some site seeing on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Below, Matt Rogers and myself getting some fresh air..

It was cold, cold, cold in the mountains.  We woke up to a thick frost covering the airstream.

Friends from Roanoke, Charlotte, and China–united!

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Wooly Worm Festival–Banner Elk, N.C.

The Banner Elk Wooly Worm Festival, held annually in October, is an event in which thousandths of contestants race wooly worms to determine the one, true caterpillar for predicting a winter weather forecast.  The wooly bear caterpillar has thirteen segments along its body that corresponds to the thirteen weeks of winter.  A lighter brown stripe means a mild week of winter, while a dark black stripe means a harsh, cold week.

One may bring their own wooly worm or buy one at the festival.  If you are a tourist, you might be duped into paying $10 for ‘a worm and a house’ outside the festival gates (inside the gates, a worm is only a dollar).  Who could imagine there was a black market for wooly worms?

Many people have techniques for prepping their worm before a race.  Due to the cold temperatures, warming the worms seemed to be the technique of choice.

About twenty people race in a heat, placing their worms below a designated line.

It’s off to the races once the worms are on the line!  Some contestants try blowing on the worm or clapping behind it to speed them up.  When it comes down to it though, I think it’s pure luck which worm comes out on top.  There are some pretty funny reactions throughout the heats.

Individual heat winners.

The winner for this year was the young Kurstin Hartsell, who seemed more terrified of her new-found fame than she was excited about the $1,000 cash prize.  Below, the official “doctors” and “weather forecasters” inspect the winning wooly worm.

My favorite portrait from the weekend.

How does one write about a first-hand experience with the Red Hat Society?  Well, it’s difficult.  Try processing a fast paced weekend with 300 middle-aged women dressed in purple and bright red hats, participating in a range of activities from belly dancing classes, to a pajama breakfast, to the official society sport: shopping!  The ‘Glam on the Grand’ event that I attended was certainly hectic and visually exhausting, due in part to my role as the official weekend photographer.  So not only was I photographing for my own purposes, but I also had to shoot ‘commercially’ by taking in mind group shots and capturing the various activities the ladies participated in.

Two weeks before I photographed the RHS convention, I had never heard of the red hatters.  I think most people have never heard of the red hatters.  But when you learn about this quickly growing society, it’s a wonder why you’ve never seen a group of woman in red and purple walking down the street or sitting in your local coffee shop.  Currently, there are over 42,000 chapters around the world and an estimated 1.5 million registered members.  Surprising?  Also, take into consideration that in April the RHS celebrated its 10th birthday.  That’s some serious growth in only ten years!

So what exactly is the red society?  The definition from the RHS website is: a global society of woman approaching the age of fifty or beyond that connects and supports women in their pursuit of Fun, Freedom, and Fulfillment. Let me stress the FUN part of that description.  The minute I arrived on the scene of the convention, I was met by dozens of friendly women, dressed up to the tee and eager to have their photos taken.  Many took the time to describe to me what being a red hatter meant to them, and how it had impacted their lives.  To summarize, these are woman who are not afraid to face ageing with gusto, silliness, and pride.  They are women who have worked hard in their careers, or raising children, or making a home, and are now ready to kick back and enjoy themselves.  They are women who want to have fun, and are not afraid of doing that in public, while dressed in purple and red!

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The society was founded over a decade ago when Sue Ellen Cooper randomly decided to buy a red fedora at a gift shop for no better reason than she thought it looked dashing.  Two years later, when she discovered a poem by Jenny Joseph that depicts an older woman in purple clothing and a red hat, she gave her friend a red hat for her birthday.  When she recognized how much her friend enjoyed the hat and poem, Sue Ellen continued to buy red hats for her closest friends.  Before long an informal society was formed that included a group of women, all the best of friends, who met for social engagements in full purple and red regalia.

Over time the society spread to other cities as women told their friends about the group or bought red hats for their friends to enjoy.  New groups of red hatters began to spring up in neighboring cities, and before long there were a number of chapters around the country.

The wonderful thing about the RHS is the open nature in which it exists.  The RHS calls itself a “dis-organization,” and they are proud of their lack of rules and by-laws.  The only rule is that you have to be 50 to be a red hatter, and if you are under 50 you must wear a pink hat.  The only other guideline that I noted was within the formation of new chapters.  Whomever starts a chapter receives the title Queen Mother, but anyone can start a new chapter and anything can be done within that chapter.  The other women within the chapter grant themselves equally extravagant names.  For example: “Vice-Mother, The Mother of All Vices”; “Mistress of Anxiety, The Patron Chapter Worrier”; “Lady Bakes-A-Lot”; and “Dame I Don’t Give A Damn”.  Sue Ellen Cooper, the founder, is referred to as ‘Exalted Queen Mother’.  The silliness of the names tells you a lot about the frivolity of these women–they’re out to have fun.

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For two full days I had the opportunity to photograph the red-hatting women in their full glory.  As one of the only males on the scene, you can imagine how they quickly adopted me as the one to tease and make fun of.  I kind of felt like I had 300 grandmothers that I had to speak politely to when spoken to.  But honestly, it was a very good time and I was overwhelmed by the ladies’ friendliness towards each other, by their sisterhood (even with women they had just met), and their eagerness to have fun.

PORTRAITS

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When someone asks a red hatter what they actually do, they would probably reply with a smile, “Nothing!”  It’s sort of the motto of the society that because there are no rules, and because the goal is to have fun and find freedom, that there is really nothing on a red hatter’s agenda.  But I found that hardly to be as true as they wanted because the women I met seemed tirelessly busy with having fun and staying active.  It also became clear that a lot of the red hatters attend a dozen or more of the RHS conventions throughout the year, on top of their local chapter activities and duties.  These women are staying busy doing nothing!

At the convention,  there were a number of activities for the women to participate in.  Most notable was the shopping room where the red hatters could add to their bling of fake diamonds, hats, boas, and purple attire.  It was a spectacle!

I was amazed by many of the ladies’ energy that endured throughout the weekend.  Saturday afternoon included belly dancing lessons.  I caught this woman in action and she chased after me for taking her photo but secretly I think she loved the attention.

One of the amazing attributes of Sue Ellen Cooper is her ability to put up with having so many pictures taken.  Throughout the weekend she had to pose for hundreds of photos as each red hatter wanted to have their picture with the ‘Exalted Queen Mother’.  It’s a rare opportunity for some of these women to come to a conference and have Sue Ellen attend as well.  She is unfortunately treated like royalty by some of these woman, but I think it’s a natural, healthy respect.  They admire the woman for starting something that they have found a home within.

I recognized that despite the titles, there was no adomosity between the various chapters or queens.  I’m particularly fond of one memory, when a group of black ladies from Detroit came late to the conference and arrived during lunch.  All the tables in the dining hall were full with the exception of a few that had an empty seat here and there.  As the group of woman stood around self consiously looking for a seat, I watched as the CEO of the RHS got up from her table, came over to the group, and helped sit each one herself.  She even took the care to give up her own seat next to Sue Ellen for the queen of the detroit chapter!

It’s one thing to see a large group of middle-aged woman dressed in red and purple together in a hotel conference room, but when you spot a red hatter on the street, the group or individual certainly stands out.   I came across the lady below who was just people watching from a Starbucks patio.  I immediately knew I had to take the picture because it was my only opportunity to find a red hatter in public.  And what a lovely scene it was…

At 1am I went up to the hotel bar with some of the RHS staff and came across this group of woman gathered around the bar.  It was so wonderful to see this bar full of 20-somethings dressed in grays and blacks contrasted against a lively group of age 50+ women in red and purple!  The red hatters were the life of the bar and probably all old enough to be the dull hipsters’ mothers!

There is much more that I could write on about the weekend, but like I noted at the beginning, it’s rather hard to process.  I hope the pictures will do the justice to the diversity, the glamour, and the overall peculiar loveliness of the Red Hat Society.   I would encourage you to watch THIS audio slide show about the RHS by a NYTimes photographer and read THIS well written Washington Post article with more history about the society.

Last weekend was the Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC. We were joined by friends and family for the weekend which we spent in a four-bedroom cabin which sleeps sixteen.

The fall leaves were beautiful. This was the perfect time to be in the NC mountains.

Monday morning, Ross and I woke up at 6:30 and set out for a sunrise hike.  We reached our destination at the perfect time. Here, Ross is shooting just after the sun rose over the horizon.