Atherton's post on the deep beauty and mystery of erotica - what drives it from smut to sunshine - inspired me to go looking for beauty in other places we don't often look.
How lucky for me that a co-worker sent around a link to a post on Towleroad featuring a tilt-shift time lapse video of this year's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, shot from a perch over Oxford and Flinders Streets last week.
For those of you not aware, Tilt-Shift photography consists of taking photos with a tilt-shift lens, which makes objects in the photos appear miniature - almost like toys.
Recently I have been looking at the gay world through a strictly carnal lens. Sex sex sex. And I know that I would look at a huge gay parade (hoo boy, Pride is coming, ain't it?) as much the same thing. But this tilt-shift time lapse video turns the parade into something beautiful. Turning hours into minutes. Making everything look so quaint. So insignificant. Gorgeous.
It makes you remember how small we all are. How all our troubles that may seem so cataclysmic, so life-ending, so never-ending... well, they're all just so god damned tiny, if you look at them from far enough away, and with the appropriate lens.
So do yourself a favor and take a break from your stressful/fantastic/worrisome/unemployed/fearful/joyous day, and give yourself a 3 minute and 14 second shot of pure, miniature wonder. Remember you're insignificant. So small. Let go and relax, and enjoy.
Oh, and do yourself a favor and blow it up to full screen and turn up the volume. Ironically enough, it's not half as breathtaking in a miniature screen.
Mardi Gras from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
If you adore the work of Keith Loutit, you can find more tilt-shift time lapse videos here.
If you fell in love with that song as much as I did, it's called "Thrown In Shadows at the Wall" by Shawn Lee from his album Soul Visa. And yes, you can get it on iTunes.
I adored this entry! Along with high dynamic range, the tilt-shift technique is one of my favorite photographic techniques of the moment / year, so this video, I think, is amazing. Plus your message attached to it is quite a needful reminder, as well. :-)
ReplyDeleteI decided that I'm doing this next year, and I can't fucking wait!
ReplyDeleteI did a semester in Sydney (the wrong semester for Mardi Gras), and I lived about 300 meters away from this intersection. I had no idea when I moved in, but that neighborhood taught much more significant lessons than anything I learned at U Syd!
SO COOL - begs the question though, why is NY pride during the day? boo
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