Wanted, West Indian Day Carnival, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 2011.
All images © Valery Rizzo
I had two objectives, one to eat some great home cooked West Indian food and two to get the photograph I did not get last year which was an image of some of these groups of kids that go around wearing bandanas covering their faces, sort of like bandits or thugs. One day I will find out why they do it and I don't want to make the wrong assumptions, but I know they do it so as not to be recognized. Anyway next year I should photograph J'overt, and the kids covered in powder and paint. J'overt is a pre-dawn street party the night/dawn before carnival where people take to the streets playing calypso and soca, dancing and masqueraders wear oil, mud, powder and paint. Although there is always a sense of risk at the Carnival due to shootings, it is still one of the most culturally interesting events in Brooklyn.
