“Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.”
George Eliot
Ya’ gotta admit – LA is a big, colorful, & fantastically vibrant place to live. If you’re bored, it’s ’cause ya’ wanna be. Lot’s to do. Lots to see. A party around every corner. Right? OK…maybe not around EVERY corner, but we sure do have a lot of festivals throughout the year. One of my faves (Yes, you’ve heard that before…) is the Dia de Los Muertos celebration held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Also celebrated in the US, “The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration.”* What a fantastic way to pay respects to deceased loved ones.
Since I’ve attended the festival multiple times over the past few years, I knew that finding a parking spot would have only slightly greater odds than winning the Powerball – twice. So, I got there early – as in before they had unlocked the port-a-potties kinda early.
In Progress, ©2019 Reginald Foster
With the gates still closed (& no port-a-potty available) I decided to make my way over to Larchmont Blvd to take a few shots and find a bite to eat before the festival. BTW, if you haven’t been, Larchmont is a cool area to check out. Anyway…by the time I returned, LA’s Dia de Los Muertos was in full swing.
The people, the costumes, the colors, the dancing, the alters, & the food all combined to create a uniquely wonderful atmosphere. This years theme was the Monarch butterfly. According to the festival’s website, the Monarch butterfly is “a symbol of Dreamers and Immigrants whose personal journeys echo the annual migrations the butterflies make between Mexico and the U.S.” Of course, for a photographer, the resulting aesthetics were simply spectacular. I really can’t think of many events that provide as much visual goodness as this one.
So, needless to say, I took a lot of photos. I just couldn’t help myself. Every couple of steps I encountered an interesting person, place, or thing that just screamed “Take my Picture!”. I had to oblige. Hopefully, you can see through the images that this is a particularly wonderful event that’s well worth checking out.
Parade of Dancers
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–Reggie–
Equipment Used
- Leica M10
- Canon 50 f1.2 LTM
- Fuji XT3
- Fuji 23 f1.4
- Ricoh GRIII
© 2014-2019 Reginald Foster, All Rights Reserved. All Photos and text are the property of Reginald Foster and PhotoFerret1.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Reginald Foster is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Reginald Foster and PhotoFerret1.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
