Recipes Used
I have been very lucky so far in my Photography journey to have two events to look forward to every year (so far) without fail. The first being Cross The Tracks and the 2nd being the subject for this post: Notting Hill Carnival.
What was once an event that always eluded me for one reason or another, has now become a year pilgrimage for me and my Photography journey.
No two Carnival experiences are the same. There are simply too many moving parts for it to be so. So when I go with whoever I'm going with, I know that whatever I get with my camera will be unique in its own right.
But then again I can say that with literally everything when it comes to art so lemme stop yapping and show some snapping. Starting with who I went with:
D & Helmer came through, the latter you may have seen before if you saw my Kodak Portra 400 Recipe Test from last summer. These two will return for a post coming in a couple of weeks.
But whilst the excitement of going was there amongst us, we got there a bit late in my opinion. Depending on what you want to do at Carnival, everything takes time. If you're trying to eat, that might legit take an hour from first finding a spot that you're feeling, then checking to see whether it's cash only, THEN lining up.
By the time you've all eaten, it's probably been 30-60 minutes depending on the line. So consider that we arrived at around 3pm and sound systems begin packing up around 6-7pm, you can feel me when I say that things never really got started for us.
But regardless of the amount of collective joy we had – or didn't have – I got my pictures. So let's begin properly with the graffiti which is a small element of Carnival that I love.
I’m not a Carnival purist by any means. I appreciate that there is space for more modern artistic expressions rooted in the Black diaspora than what the first Carnivals expressed. (Trini Soca/Calypso with Jamaican Sound Systems, the latter of which is what I personally seek out, big ups Channel One.)
The multi-sensory experience is an experiment into how much your brain can take. I knew we came later than we should because once we left Paddington and walked over to where the action was, people were already heading home. They’re not hard to catch, not because of what they wear but by how tired they look.
This isn’t a chill event by any means!
Anyways, once we arrived we started to make our way into the middle of it all.
Some fun opportunity for photos came pretty quickly with this guy dancing to the beat of a drumming trio on a side road.
We then found ourselves blocked in the best way, with a whole drum session going on.
It was at this point however that we were thinking of eating, so off we went to find some food.
Something I obviously didn’t catch on camera: Helmer whited out when me & D were waiting in separate lines for food, which derailed our day a bit as you can imagine but he was okay. We hooked him up with a patty from each of us.
What I did catch on camera around this time was a great view where the Sun beamed down the road, creating some of my favourites from the day…
Shouts to Uncle G’s, patties was just what the doctor ordered.
Once we eat, we move.
As the guys head into a corner shop, I take a circuit to find a set of people forming a circle.
Upon getting closer, I got super giddy realising that there were dudes in the middle practicing Capoeira.
Something about Capoeira that just does it for me. So fluid and artistic even though it’s technically a martial art.
But alas, after that finished, it was clear that it was time to make our way home after a few more, partakes if you catch my drift.
Of course we took the longest way possible…
(Shout out to homie in the neon green fit.)
Whilst I’m happy with the photos I got, this isn’t the best from a storytelling standpoint. The day left me wanting a little bit.
But I guess there’s always next year, right?
Charlie Taylor
chillicharlie.taylor@gmail.com
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