if you’ve been following JOVM over the past few weeks you’d know that the last three weeks or so have been incredibly busy as i’ve covered the Northside Festival in Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago, a few Summerstage shows, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Brooklyn Bowl and this week, the New Music Seminar. Things have been so busy that I haven’t had a lot of time to contemplate the fact that today JOVM turns 5. And what an amazing and very busy ride it’s been. Hopefully, i’ll talk about that later – but just this past weekend, I was down in Coney Island for the 33rd annual Mermaid Parade, an annual celebration of all things summer, the sea and the beach itself. Of course, it requires those participating in the actual parade to dress up in costumes related to the sea or seafaring, so you wind up seeing a fair number of mermaids, mermen, pirates, sea gods and goddesses, water-based creatures and the occasional what-the-fuck-is-that?
Now if you’ve been following the site from the very beginning, you’ll know that throughout the course of the site’s existence that I’ve gone down to Coney Island to take pictures of the people and the events of the day. It’s visual crack for the photographer, if you consider the costumes, the setting and everything else; you’d be insane not to want to push through crowds to shoot everything within your path. Sadly, this year I missed the actual parade – that’s a long story that includes being out and drinking at my regular bar with a dear friend until 4, followed by oversleeping, followed by the MTA being slow and so on – but I wound up capturing people right after the parade. And personally, I think that may arguably be more fun than the actual parade.
Check out some photos below.
Personally, I find it kind of hilarious that on a day that celebrates debauchery that there’s always someone out there who wants us all to repent and praise Jesus – right this very second
I was walking up Surf Avenue, when this women captured my eye. And it may be one of my favorite pictures of the entire day because I love her smile. It’s shy but coquettish and it has a brief flicker of pride as well.
Isn’t this guy adorable?
The man on the right is a Coney Island Mermaid Day Parade staple. I have a hilarious and rather uncomfortable picture with this man, who was wearing nothing by a cod piece barely covering his penis and an ex-girlfriend in front of Nathan’s. Apparently, Nathan’s doesn’t have a no shirt, no pants, no service policy – at least not on Mermaid Parade Day.
Bane, Batman and Thor were walking on the Coney Island Boardwalk …
This is another personal favorite of mine. Check out his contacts – he specifically posed this way for me to see his contacts.
I ran into a group of friends and wound up taking their photos. At one point the man asked me to kiss his hand, which I did in a playfully reluctant fashion. I responded by joking to the group that the man should sing Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman,” which he and his friends promptly did – and they continued to sing the song as I continued to walk up the boardwalk.
Dueling on the beach, Spy vs. Spy meets The Matrix style.
What makes this picture great is that it features not one but two Black Poseidons. How much more awesome can you get?
For these photos and more, check out the Flickr set here:
