I took these photos way back in March of 2007, but they’ve only been adapted to the digital world within the past month as I was putting together my portfolio. So everything below is scanned b&w film, tweaked in photoshop to look like the traditional prints glimpsed in the last blog entry.
Once a year, during the last week before spring break, the first-year architects at Cornell University design and build a dragon that they parade around campus on Friday afternoon and then ceremoniously burn on the quad right in the middle of the Arts and Sciences College.
By the way… yes, that is snow and this kind of weather is actually pretty normal for mid-March.
This year’s dragon had a modern design to it. At first glance I thought maybe they hadn’t finished it on time. I never did find out for sure.
The proud designers/builders all donned white suits.
I singled one out.
I enjoy taking pictures of other photographers. This is one of the better one’s I’ve ever pulled off.
I wish I had a stuffed dragon like that as a kid.
As per tradition, the rest of the architects dress up in crazy costumes and accompany the dragon along the way.
I really really wish this person had walked a little faster, or I had leaned a little farther over… I honestly don’t remember exactly the circumstance, but that’s the way it goes. The amount of times I’m this close yet so far away from an amazing photo…
The above guys… I never did get the full story, but their banner suggests they’re landscape architects who are jealous of the regular architects; they don’t have their own special holiday. I guess they’ve come out to slay the dragon.
Crowd shot. The parade usually starts sometime about 12 to 1pm, so a lot of students come watch between classes or during lunch. Then there’s all the faculty and staff who usually come see, though they usually don’t stay for the whole ordeal.
And finally at the end it burns… or in this case chars. Bamboo doesn’t really burn dramatically, and I don’t think the snow helped.
And that’s Dragon Day!
The end
I wish I could have been there, that looks like it was really fun… And you took some amazing photos!
The guy you singled out… I like his hair due. xD
Comment by Hexy — January 2, 2008 @ 10:19 pm |
I was gonna say “Is this the same wooden dragon they burned that I saw a pic of before?” then I scrolled down and saw the last pic… xD
Looks like fun times for people who went D:
And nice pictures ^-^
Comment by Jeremy — January 9, 2008 @ 10:36 pm |