KdK Carnival of Cultures ~ 2015

Yes, I'm a lucky girl! I have a friend in Berlin who puts me up (or puts up with me... as the case may be) and also shows me the beautiful side of the city every time there is an event in Berlin I like to attend. We always have a nice time chatting and this time we did so to the early hours so we had a late start going to the Carnival which we were going to shoot as the groups assembled in the side road in the morning. Saying that, we were late but far too early for the last groups who were due to start later in the afternoon.

It was a beautiful day and the sun shone down on us at midday when the parade started. That is never a good thing for photography! However, there was also lots of shade under the trees in this particular road which was a good thing for me and also for the groups - 62 of them altogether - who had some hours to spend here before entering the main road into the procession. So, I tried to mainly use the shade to get some pictures.

This carnival comprises a lot of different people from all over the world donning their traditional attire or fantasy costumes representing figures from film and TV ~ even some German TV-personalities could be spotted amongst the participants. Some groups were making aware of social problems like immigration, racism and the ever present financial issues Berlin faces with living space being turned into developments by big corporations.

As I had to catch my ride back home to Bremen I could not stay all day so I had to miss a lot of groups, particularly the reggae groups and trucks of YAAM, Reggae In Berlin and the Dutch Soca Lovers, which I am sure were awesome. Thankfully though, I saw Franky Fyah of the Soca Twins preparing his truck and later quite a few other members of this group including the lovely Barney Millah and Alison who were all getting into the party spirit which must have culminated much later that night according the postings I later saw on facebook!

The past few years have been critical as to the financing of the Carnival and the street festival and in particular this year it was not clear if it could actually take place. I am glad it did and I was able to see a fraction of it alongside the other 1.5 million visitors! Hopefully, the German saying "Totgesagte leben länger! (The condemned live longer!)" will hold true and I can attend it again in the future! It was quite an experience to see so many people - masses of them - working for one aim: Party and Enjoy Life!

Here is a link to this event with more information in English. For all of you reading/viewing with iPhones or Androids please click/follow the link below to see the photos of the slide-show above!

https://picasaweb.google.com/102895067673602587741/KarnevalDerKulturenBerlin?authuser=0&feat=directlink

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Feel free to tag yourself in the photos on my Facebook Photography Page. Should you want to have your photo removed or have a query, you can also contact me there or at "chrissie at cnicely dot com". I'm looking forward to hearing from you and hopefully to see you again next year!

Samba Carnival Bremen • Feburary 7, 2015

30 years of Samba Carnival in Bremen! Imagine how many people braved the Bremen weather over the years! The temperatures in February don't change much - although this year it was quite "warm" and it was not raining, much less snowing - until about an hour after the parade started!

I didn't get to see/hear the introductory play at "Am Markt" this time as I made my way through the huge crowd to where I wanted to position myself to get some good shots. Along the way I saw quite a few people who had come along in costumes or at least a carnival hat. This year's parade was under the motto "CIRCUS", which was a great opportunity for some wonderful costume creations as you can see in the photos.

A large part of Bremen's Samba Carnival are actors of Blaumeier-Atelier, who wear hand made masks and costumes. Most of them bring along some food for thought as they interact with the crowd as you might be able to spot in some of the photos, so check out my slide-show below these photos:

Here is my slide-show with all 364 photos of the parade:

For all of you reading/viewing with iPhones or androids please click/follow the link below to see all the photos!

https://picasaweb.google.com/102895067673602587741/BremerKarneval2015?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Alternatively, you can see the photos on my Facebook Photography Page. Feel free to tag yourself and "Like" the page there to follow my other photography postings. Should you want to have your photo removed or have a query, you can also contact me there or at "chrissie @ cnicely dot com".

Thanks and see you next year!

Samba Carnival in Bremen

Samba Carnival in Bremen may seem to be an odd idea and the temperatures we have here in February make it an even less likely event. But the people of Bremen do whatever they want to do and brave any weather. I'm not that brave but this year the temperature was quite mild and since there even were some rays of sun in the morning on February 22, I went to see the carnival and took my camera.

By the time I got to the city centre the sun had disappeared and it was overcast from here on. At noon the carnival parade was due to start "Am Markt" and I could see from a distance that there was a stage of some sort and a red cat was raised in the air telling a story of abandonment. I could not quite follow the whole monologue but later I saw a school of paper cranes flying towards a gentleman who appeared above the crowd's heads and was talking to the cat. I guess the story continued with the cat going out into the world to find a new "home" which was the motto of this year's parade: "HEIMAT". In English there is no exact translation for this word but it means, home where you are born and where you are spiritually rooted.

The parade commenced - after what seemed like an hour to me - and I settled in a good position to take pictures with the "Rathaus" (town hall) or the "Dom" (cathedral) as a backdrop depending on which way I turned. The clouds are quite helpful when photographing because there are no harsh shadows. Although, I must say, the sun does add to a lot of atmosphere to carnival photos from around the world. In Bremen this has to be replaced by the radiance in the smiles of the part-taking people, who's costumes related to our lifestyle here in the North of Germany. There were participants from all over the North of Germany, even as far as Berlin, who brought their drums and many other percussion instruments some being quite original.

During the parade it was pointed out that the carnival needs funding and we should donate money. Some of the costumes portrayed the "Osterwiese" (spring fair) or the more famous of the two fairs "Freimarkt" (autumn fair) - a Bremen institution. One costume looked like a raffle ticket stall with soft toys that you could buy as a gift for a child spectator. What I love most about the carnival is the children who are always mesmerised by the wonderful costumes and music. A large group of the costumed participants, who all wear masks and interact with the crowd - and sometimes make you stop and think - are actors of Blaumeier-Atelier.

My friend and colleague also took pictures, some of which you can see here. My photos are not all of the best quality but I tried to include at least one photo of each group. I do hope you enjoy them, nevertheless, and perhaps I'll be able to "shoot" you next year!