By my highly scientific calculations (meaning not even remotely scientific), KMart sold more pillows on Saturday than they ever have before. Hipsters, children, married couples, and everybody in between seemed to be flocking to the aisles of Martha Stewart's downy goodness for the chance to buy a cheap pillow to put to use during the annual New York City Pillow Fight, an event I didn't even know existed until I was about to photograph it. And despite my fear of huge crowds packed into tiny areas, I'm glad I went.
As Nick, Meg, Jes and I made our way down to the financial district--a rather poetic place to bludgeon people with feathers, given our current financial crisis--we found ourselves surrounded by people carrying pillows on the subway, which contrary to the name of a certain musical, is not usually for sleeping. By the time we climbed up the stairs and let our eyes adjust to daylight, it was clear we'd have to adjust to much more. The streets were filled with people funneling into the single entrance that led to the fight's location: a blocked off section of pavement directly in front of the stock exchange.
I put my scientific calculation skills to use again and determined that roughly half of the crowd was carrying cameras. Fortunately, if faced with a fight, I felt confident my camera could beat a pillow any day. Not that anyone had much room for swinging. The packed crowd meant that the pillow fight was more of a pillow bump, but that didn't stop the throngs of participants from wailing their weapons with as much force as their arms would allow. Despite lingering on the periphery, I still managed to get hit several times. And despite the collision of pillow to camera lens, I also managed to get a few decent shots in the process.
As Nick, Meg, Jes and I made our way down to the financial district--a rather poetic place to bludgeon people with feathers, given our current financial crisis--we found ourselves surrounded by people carrying pillows on the subway, which contrary to the name of a certain musical, is not usually for sleeping. By the time we climbed up the stairs and let our eyes adjust to daylight, it was clear we'd have to adjust to much more. The streets were filled with people funneling into the single entrance that led to the fight's location: a blocked off section of pavement directly in front of the stock exchange.
I put my scientific calculation skills to use again and determined that roughly half of the crowd was carrying cameras. Fortunately, if faced with a fight, I felt confident my camera could beat a pillow any day. Not that anyone had much room for swinging. The packed crowd meant that the pillow fight was more of a pillow bump, but that didn't stop the throngs of participants from wailing their weapons with as much force as their arms would allow. Despite lingering on the periphery, I still managed to get hit several times. And despite the collision of pillow to camera lens, I also managed to get a few decent shots in the process.
We had it in Sao Paulo too!
And your pictures are great as usual!
Posted by: cathy | April 07, 2009 at 11:33 AM
These photos are amazing. What kind of camera do you use??
Posted by: Laura | April 08, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Thanks, Ladies. Glad you enjoyed the photos! I had a great time taking them, despite the occasional camera/pillow collision.
Laura, I use a Canon 30D SLR for all my shooting. For these photos I was using that camera with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L Series Lens.
Hope that info helps!
Posted by: M | April 11, 2009 at 12:34 PM