Say what you will about the designs themselves, but it takes an awful lot of planning and skill to create all the images that go on the flood wall during Paint Louis. Do these people go to art school or learn as apprentices? They use paint rollers for background color but I've never seen stencils or masks used for the details. But when I'm shooting someone near ground level I have to remember to stay upwind of the spray cans. It could ruin an lens.
Every American who is old enough remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. It is indelible. A few months after the attack, we were flying into Newark to see my family in New Jersey. The usual approach was north to south, parallel to the Hudson River. Seeing the hole in the Manhattan skyline, once so familiar, was one of the few times in my adult life that brought tears to my eyes.
There is an event on Art Hill in Forest Park this week called Flags of Valor, https://flagsofvalorstl.com/. There are something more than 7,000 flags, all in precise rows, each representing a victim of that day and the military personnel who died in the response. Even crusty old me was deeply moved.
The Guinness Book of World Records says that it is the largest graffiti wall anywhere, about 2 miles / 3.2 km long. It gets redone every year over our Labor Day long weekend. I went down on Sunday, the second day of painting. It was hot and my back was cranky so I didn't get as much as I would have liked. Enough to start.
While walking out of the Festival of Nations to our car, we came across this man with his pet monitor lizard. I didn't get the name but I think he said he'd had the reptile for 20 years. The hot day seemed to keep it awake.
Still at the Festival of Nations, a West African dance and rhythm group called Spirit of Angela. So full of energy and lucky to have the shutter speed high enough to catch the dancers in the air.
