Observations

During the first week of the project we spent 24 hours observing the area surrounding the fountain. The key activities we took note of are as follows:

Taking pictures


Lots of That


Mostly that in fact


There is a lot of hanging out too


As well as performances
Everything from Break Dancing


Classical Music

...Toth


Even Massages


In addtion to pictures we took detailed note for stretches of our observation. Below are a sampling:

LOGBOOK:SATURDAY 20 OCTOBER 2007
11:45 The place is crowded with people. Saturday seems to be THE DAY for people to visit the central park.

12:30 The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn(band)arrive on the scene (near food stalls). people move from the front to the food stalls to hear them play.

12:45 A woman posed as a statue/dancer catches attention of several people. Suddenly all cluster to see and photograph her. One fellow is trying to make her laugh. After people wear out of taking pictures of her, they go somewhere else. New people replace them, indulging in the very same thing.

1:15 A huge tour group has arrived. Somehow people love to sit facing the sun!

1:30 The clouds make the weather go from sunny to shade, hot to cool. Its pretty windy from time to time.

1:58 A bride and groom walk in for a photo-shoot. They are also being photographed by the people around them.

2:05 I change the place where i sit yet again. This place is great for portraiture. You can see people eating now. Its hunger time!! A family with all members with bikes and wearing biking gear park their bicycles next to where I sit. They too are off to eat food.

2:30 The area in front of the flight of steps is packed with people as a performance has just begun. Its two guys doing acrobatic tricks and cracking jokes some jokes over the black and white NY communities. Its all in good jest and they have an informed and sensitive sense of humor. People are really enjoying themselves. Its funny, but they have even pulled the crowd away from The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn and the dancer. The latter troops pack up and leave for someplace else.

3:05 The performance is over and the crowd dissipates. Another crowd forms in the space under the flight of stairs - an American Indian is performing solo out there. He is dressed in Indian gear and his vocal chords are really strong - he is almost warbling loudly and doing a flourishing dance!

3:15 The performers have taken their break and they begin to pull the crowds once again. The American Indian loses his audience but he is resilient. He is performing despite the dearth of audience. This fellow sitting besides me (I'm on the periphery of the fountain now), suddenly breaks into conversation with me. He gets interested in what kind of photographs I was shooting, lighting, and the conversation goes on to how NY was different before (this guy claimed to be sixty years old). We discuss India, globalization, economy, apple and windows, helicopters, dogs, food, and I think we chatted away for quite a while.

3:40 The performance is over, yet the Indian is still going. He was singing throughout and still hasn't taken a break.

4:00 Crowds are more evenly distributed around the fountain now.

4:05 Gawd!! the two performers have begun their antics yet again. Oh, and after they finish performing, they collect money from the crowd gathered. I've never met a more witty, shrewd, intelligent and enterprising performing duo ever before. They are wild, and permanent at the central park.

4:30 A video crew is shooting some episode/ film. The light now is perfect for photography.

5:00 The video team leaves. Another band is here playing classical music. They're playing stuff from the notes in front of them, like an orchestra. They're very good and people have surrounded them. Though the two performs are still upto their tricks, this band has managed to capture quite a size of the crowd. Finally the audience is equally distributed between the Indian, the band and the performers. I can hear the Indian across the fountain. He truly is resilient. The band seems to be really young. They're just happy with all the applause (and thats all they are getting). They dont seem to concerned with the money.

5:30 Ah, the lack of money finally shows. Or maybe it was some other reason. But the young band packed up and left despite an audience.

6:00 Its become chilly. And dim. All performers except for the Indian have left. The Indian has stopped singing and dancing and now sits wrapped in a shawl next to his bunch of CDs that are kept for sale.

6:30 Not much is happening now. People are not really focused anywhere. Not even into taking pictures. There aren't any crowds either. Just a homogenous spread of people relaxing at different corners of the space. I decide to leave.

7:00 I'm finally out of central park. On my way out I encountered the dancer posed at one intersection. She looked tired and her makeup was cracking, but she stood still as ever. A seeming big band played on the half dome amphitheater. Pretty grand setting but bad music. A huge troupe danced to psychedelic music on roller blades. That was quite wild as it was people from various age- groups.