The Carnival is Over

March 30, 2009 8:46 PM | Related Categories: Art,Venice

No, not another music item, although anyone wanting some 60's nostalgia can go here.

Carnival is over in Venice for another year, has been for a while actually - it's touristy, unauthentic, I like it, and I missed it this year. But I came across this image from 2007 and thought I'd post it as a substitute.

I have many photos of carnival masks and costumes, and this one has always been a bit of a curates egg for me. I'm not sure if the lopsided composition can be fixed or not, or if it's even a problem. Should have been done right at the time of shooting naturally. However it still has something and I like it, so here it is.

(I've tried lots of crops, believe me, but it seems to me that an obvious crop of the right side doesn't work, although feel free to suggest anything, or even agree with me)

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Huh....Dusty Springfield's brother wrote that song.

You were speaking a little while back of unofficial national anthems.
For the last 10 years, Australia's has been "I am Australian".
It was written by Bruce Woodley from The Seekers.

"We are one,
But we are many,
And from all the lands on earth we come,
We share a dream and sing with one voice,
I am,
You are,
We are Australian."

Isn't that a simple,warm, inclusive sentiment?
# Posted By freefalling | 3/31/09 3:23 AM
I would not try and tweak it anymore. It looks good. It feels like the person behind the mask or the "it" is trying to analyse you the viewer and study you and not the other way around. To make it too "straight" I think might lose some of that interest which has been created. Also by not being in the centre it gives more of the impression that there was some movement in the shot without a blur and therefore a moment was captured rather than a "picture"...
# Posted By Shaun | 3/31/09 11:35 AM
Thanks Shaun - I'm glad someone agrees with me. I know what the expert at a photo club portfolio review would say...

I think one of the reasons that it does work, is that there are surprising diagonal elements that are not immediately apparent, and they are lost if you crop it. And of course, traditional compositional rules are there to be broken.
# Posted By richard | 3/31/09 1:29 PM
FF - interesting info. I'd forgotten that the Seekers were Australian! (Shame on me) The sentiments in that song you quote are certainly more heartwarming and positive than Waltzing Matilda
# Posted By richard | 3/31/09 1:31 PM
Yes, I know what the club judge wld say because I was there when he said it last week. Nevertheless.....I've decided that I react badly to these. I don't enjoy the "sinisterosity" (a word coined by FF).

That said: this one might (I suppose - if dragged to say it) gain merit precisely because of its "s..osity". I haven't noticed your "diagonals" but I can see what you mean when you point it out. I've noticed the very clear, precise texture of the silks, and perhaps (less so) the mask in contrast with the unpleasantly alive but not "lively" eyes.

This one is not for me. It seems cruel to say, but they are a cliche that died immediately after their first startling arrival. I probably would not want to photograph these masks at all.

Oh dear. Sorry.
# Posted By Chuckeroon | 3/31/09 7:00 PM
P.S. am I allowed to say that I have met Athol Clyde (or is it Clive?) - but he won't remember.
# Posted By Chuckeroon | 3/31/09 7:03 PM
Richard I haven't been able to get into my emails. Please phone me. Rosemount
# Posted By rosemount | 3/31/09 11:18 PM
Chuckeroon - you can say what you like - it's a free speech blog!
# Posted By richard | 4/1/09 12:21 AM
La nostalgie aussi de voir la façon dont sont coiffés les personnes en 1968. Il y a 40 ans seulement !
Les lunettes....
Hier je suis allée voir au musée André Jacquemart de Paris l'exposition "de Sienne à Florence, les Primitifs italiens".
Emouvant ces personnages qui ont servi de modèle aux vierges, aux saints, aux Christ enfants même, aux anges. Sont-ils si différents de nous ? Il y avait deux Botticelli magnifiques par la luminosité des peaux laiteuses.
Les peintures sur bois sont toujours fraîches, mais que sont les artistes et les modèles devenus ?
# Posted By Cergie | 4/1/09 1:33 PM
J'aime ce qu'exprime cette photo. Le visage derrière le masque. Si triste. Et le cadrage qui fait que les vêtements rendent le masque pointu qui lui même est calé contre le coté de la photo.
# Posted By Cergie | 4/1/09 1:35 PM
Cergie - you saw what I also like about the photo. The mask is supposed to conceal all, even gender. But the eyes here cannot conceal.. something. As you say, tristesse maybe. I know Chuckeroon doesn't like the carnival thing, but this isn't really a photo of a carnival mask
# Posted By richard | 4/1/09 11:58 PM
I've read all comments but after knowing how I felt about the photograph. The person and the mask is off to the left as it were and so are the eyes, Cropping seems perfect to me. There's a mystery here I just love. There's a softness to those eyes, an almost liquid quality, a sadness with life - it's the softness that contrasts greatly with the solidity of the mask itself. I just love it. But then I love theatre and this is theatre. Fabulous in my book!
# Posted By Jilly | 4/7/09 10:58 PM
Thanks Jilly - I've always liked this image, for mostly the reasons you mention - I won't throw it out then!
# Posted By richard | 4/7/09 11:39 PM
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