A Decent Photo (Or Two): People of Paradise Presents:

It was Notting Hill Carnival recently, I went for the day with my brother and a mate. The weather was decent, the food was good, and there was plenty of spectacle. I took about three rolls of film the whole day (being somewhat conservative due to the ridiculous costs of film developing these days - £19.60 for one roll of b&w film!). I took two in colour and one in black and white. The b&w came out better as usual. I am pretty unimpressed with my colour shots, but will be putting a few up over the next few days. But here is a small selection. The photo above sums up for me the feeling of Carnival. My mum's family are from the West Indies, having moved to the UK in the late '50s; I think there is something comforting about the ability to have something like the second biggest carnival after Rio's on a tiny rain swept isle in northern Europe. Aside from the occasional flair-ups of trouble it's a good day out. I will be putting these up gradually, but it's late, I'm tired, and my internet connection is so painfully slow it's hard enough uploading these at the best of times.

Seriously. Painfully slow...

One of the best things about Carnival is the colour. It adds to an already incredible atmosphere.

With all the dancing, there is plenty of flag waving. The pride in one's origins at Carnival is pretty special. The flags above from right to left are Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda (you can't really see it), Dominica (above), St. Lucia (below and last on the left). The perception of West Indies most people have is of Jamaicans, but all the islands are so unique.