When my wife and I went to the first Lake Parade several years ago I was very far
from thinking that a few years later a book would materialize from this
event.
With many preconceived ideas in my head, some curiosity and a bit by
chance, I discovered a mixture of Techno Parades and Gay Pride which
over time, has evolved into a modern, very colorful carnival, sometimes,
somewhat undressed.
Most of our traditional carnivals take place in Winter, however the Lake
and Street Parade belong to the summer, where the participants use their
imagination and let themselves dress down to light vestimentary
behaviors.
The popular success is quite extraordinary, often the number of participants exceeding the local population, their friendly behaviour requiring only minimal and discrete police presence.
The human surge generated by the Lake
and Street parades generating decibels; the smallest football match now
a days requiring more policemen than fans…
Much of this success is due to the quality of the participants,
representing all ages coming from all social groups from the population.
The Lake and Street Parades are anthems to music, tolerance, love and … sex.
From a photographic aspect, this book, a compilation made over several years, is the pure product of a «picture taker» as opposed to a «picture maker». If the latter imagines and patiently builds his photographs like a composer, the first works more by improvisation. From a fast moving and evolving scene he only partially masters, he must capture the most significant moments. The choice of the moment and the emotion transmitted are of primary importance. I may accept a sometimes-approximate composition or a background not always very “clean” but, the spectator must absolutely feel the emotion of the moment.
To complete this exercise and ensure that the printed image be as close as possible to what I saw in the viewfinder, I wanted to present you with the images just as they are, without any modifications, realignment, or artificial modifications, nor are they spread over two pages and all are comment free. The picture should transmit the emotion contained within and speak for itself.
I hope you’ll have as much pleasure viewing these
photographs as I had taking them. Thanks to all participants who made
this book a reality.
And see ya soon, during the next editions of Lake and Street Parades.
