Costume or Real Outfit?

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It’s no surprise that Halloween is my favorite time of year.  The weather is just right and the city’s cast of characters come to life for a night. Wait. Scratch that. New Orleans is made of a cast of characters, and on any given day of the week you are destined to run into one.  A friend and I like to play a game we call, “Costume or Real Outfit.” Nine out of ten times it’s a real outfit. That’s why Halloween in New Orleans is more of a celebration of its lead actors. The biggest celebration is on Frenchmen Street, where locals go to mosey in and out of bars and music halls.

A combustible combination of creativity, ingenuity, and humor. Lots of humor. Dead-pan. Juvenile. Off-color. Satirical. You name it. Frenchmen has it.  I’m in London this year (post about that soon), so I hope my friends have taken copious notes and photos of some of this year’s best costumes.

In the meantime, I will wait to wear this handsome headdress again. I bought it for no other reason than, you never know when you might need a headdress. As it turns out, I needed it. Erica Ferrone, a sweet friend I made at BU and incredibly talented photographer came to visit. When she reached out she asked, “Hey, would you and MG feel like playing dress up and taking a few pictures?” Response: “Duh. I’ll bring the headdress.”

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Please visit Erica’s website and her blog. Her work speaks for itself, but as a general commentary (this blog is full of that) Erica has an excellent eye for the right shot.  I panicked internally a little when she sprawled herself across Bourbon Street for certain shots, but the outcome of these photographs attests to the notion that a little Bourbon Street dirt never hurt anyone.

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The sign of an excellent photographer is not only in the skill set behind the lens, but the ability to make the subject feel comfortable in front of it. Erica’s sunny disposition and energy breeds an excitement during the shoot that is infectious.  The result is inevitably filtered through the camera lens freezing a moment in time that you will certainly dream to recreate.

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How dope are these black and white shots?

Thanks Erica for letting MG and I play around our city with you.  Dress up is made for Halloween, yes. But any time of the year is fine by me.