People amaze me sometimes. Occasionally it’s amazement at the level of stupidity someone exhibits. Usually, though, I’m moved by how much beauty people are able to create.
Today, it was beauty out of concrete and colored dust. A class of students at a local high school spent this morning recreating Pablo Picasso paintings (such as “Weeping Woman,” above) with sidewalk chalk near a school entrance. Some of the students were pretty skilled artists and others probably won’t be pursuing an art degree, but all of the work was impressive.
I certainly had my favorites out of all the recreated paintings, such as “The Old Guitarist,” above, but that has more to do with which of Picasso’s paintings reach me. All of the chalk drawings (a phrase hardly fit to describe the work I saw today) kicked the crap out of the stuff I drew in my driveway as a kid (or the stuff I drew as a kid, period).
(That’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” in the foreground there)
In “Evidence of My Existence,” Jim Lo Scalzo wrote something to the effect of enjoying the high-noon type of light that most photographers hate because it creates deep black shadows and helps colors to really pop. I’ve tried to incorporate those sides of this harsh light in to my shooting (with occasional success) and it had a nice effect on the bright, colorful chalk today. It was a fun assignment with no strings attached, which is always refreshing.
(A self portrait of Picasso)
This was a nice break from some of the heavier stories we’ve been following over the past week, for which a new post is coming shortly. Stay tuned.
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