Say what you like but...

I think Dora started it.

That blond can pack a punch, but your kid's favorite bilingual football-head fears nothing.

Talk about unflinching optimism!

Hasta la vista, blondie!

Any reason for this post? No, not really, but if I am to milk some meager pedagogical tidbit out of these purely cathartic photos it would be that realism isn't always your best choice. I gave a cross-processed and highly contrasted look to these photos because—hey!—we are talking about a fight with a cartoon figure here. I admit, I was tempted to give it a gritty black and white Raging Bull feel, but then I would have had to call it "Raving Bull" and then you would just want to hit me.

10 seconds at the Paris Techno Parade

Warning for sensitive viewers: the following contains people giving me the finger.

Here are 14 frames that represent 10 seconds of my experience at the Paris Techno Parade on Saturday.

A group of guys arrived near the end of the parade to have some fun bulldozing their way through the crowd. One of them noticed me taking a photo of a bandaged guy and suddenly the whole group was coming at me in a manner that was both playful and dangerous. I have to say that I loved the adrenaline rush of the experience.

I took the photos while walking backwards in order to avoid being surrounded. When it looked like I was about to get mauled, I bowed out in as friendly a way possible.

Here they are in order. Which of the 14 frames is your favorite?

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Paris Techno Parade as seen through the Auguste Comte bus stop

I spent a good part of yesterday destroying my ear drums while being pushed along by mobs of techno enthusiasts who were bouncing their way through the Latin Quarter and on to Place de la Bastille. This was not a demonstration, but a "techno Parade," but if you ask me, ça revient au même—it's pretty much the same thing. Hordes of people, a mob mentality for better (solidarity) and for worse (violence), a mixture of exuberance and danger. Basically, one of my favorite things to see. If there is a demonstration, I'm there. If there's a riot, I shouldn't be there, but I am anyway.

I don't know how I filled up a 15 gig memory card so quickly, but maybe it had something to do with this month's "points of view" focus. Let's use a bus stop as an example:

I love the defiant use of urban structures during an event like this. I don't mean burning cars or smashing shop windows (and none of that was happening), but simply people using public space in ways that break with their intended design. Normally, I might have snapped the above photo and continued on with the crowd. With the way the guys were starting to jump on the structure, I knew it wouldn't be long before security intervened.

I cut through the crowd and worked my way to the bus stop. I love how the guy in the middle is trying to make a call on his cell phone. Good luck with that.
Once I was this close, I thought I may as well try a new perspective and go under the glass (which started to draw more photographers—an irritating side effect).
They loved the attention, probably hoping the photo would make it into the mainstream press.

This guy motioned for me to photograph him hitting a B-Boy pose and showing off his tongue piercing.

Finally, I moved to the back of the bus stop where one of the kids tried to get in one more chance to be seen. I guess he got his wish.

As in my last post, my point here is that thinking more about points of view can multiply your chances of getting photos you like. You have to move a little more—and often rather quickly—but it pays off.