Field Notes on Current Research in Brazil and Elsewhere
“Ya gotta run what you brung…” Working with a small camera
I first heard the phrase “Run what you brung” in southern auto and motorcycle racing. It usually signaled impatience when someone was complaining that the rights parts didn’t arrive, the carburetor is a bit off, the tires are too soft (or hard, or bald), or other of the endless reasons racers have for losing. This was a reminder to stop complaining and get to work with what you have.
The photos here are beachfront and research photos taken during January – April, 2016 with a small-sensor camera that fits into a pocket. It was already a couple of generations old when I used it, having been superceded by larger, and even “full-frame,” pocket cameras. I found that it was a terrific carry-along (even in a pants pocket while bicycling at the beach), and I gradually came to understand that there were images that were not only usable, but had certain special characteristics that were worth a bit of attention. It is still not my camera of choice for something I go out with the intention to photograph, but it is very versatile and helpful when you are in a place Like São Luís where it’s always good to have a camera with you.
Beachfront and City images
This egret (garça) on the Calhau Beach has appeared in an earlier post of my experiments with a small camera
The egret appeared in a January 2016 post on using a small camera (http://www.meredithwwatts.com/MWBrazilBlog/?m=201601 or scroll down to January).
This first post was shortly after losing most of our first-choice camera and video camera equipment, and we were adjusting to using our back-up equipment.
In these photographs the small camera was either the carry-along of choice because it slipped into my pants pocket, or it was all I had. The little camera often made it possible to find images that would have escaped me if I had needed to have a larger camera with me. Sometimes for reasons of convenience or security this is the kind of camera to have. Since this model of camera was made, many more with larger sensors and better image quality are available, but few are more “pocketable.” And as the old photographers’ saying goes, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” (That is, “run what you brung…”)
Beachfront bar at the Ohlo d’agua beach in São Luis. The beach is known in local legends for enchanted beings that appear here, but I don’t think they come to the “Bar São Sebastião.”
These are the heroes of the Calhau Beach. Dressed in heavy sun protection these workers appear every morning to clean up the beach. As the day wears on, debris from the sea and from beach goers assures their jobs for another day.
This concrete slab bears a mosaic evoking Maranhão popular culture, as the rainy season softens its grip and the skies are blue for more of the day.
Spanish/Portuguese-style steps leading from the upper to lower historical canter of São Luís. This man is drying his laundry on what was once an elegant downtown city passage.
Graffiti in São Luís. The building behind this wall may be renovated one day, but this is still a run-down and picturesque part of the historical center. The plaza this wall faces appears to have been designed for speeches or small theater or dance productions, but it seems mostly abandoned now.
Graffiti in São Luís. This mural refers to an “urban quilombo,” a metaphorical version of the centuries-old form of rural community formed by escaped and freed slaves, sometimes with the support and participation of indigenous people and others. For centuries the quilombos provided a haven of sorts for freed slaves and their supporters.the biggest of them historically, Palmares, was destroyed by government troops and adventurers in the mid-18th century.
Barracas, or beachside stands, Calhau Beach, São Luís. In a couple of hours the vendors will show up, stock the huts with green coconuts, and spend the day selling “agua de coco,” coconut water.
Research on “cultura popular” Marenhense (popular culture in Maranhão)
Working with back-up equipment for photographing in our research project on popular culture, I often used the pocket camera. This women directs a Bumba-meu-boi in one of Maranhão’s smaller cities. This is in the workshop where costumes and equipment are prepared. She is here reflected in a broken mirror among the props. She is a remarkably energetic performer and group leader, and helped he group, Bumba-meu-boi de Rama Santa be a very popular attraction in Sao Luis in the June festival.
Interviewee for our “Women in Popular Culture” project in the interior of Maranhao . Here she is reflected in a broken mirror in the workshop of the group she leads, Bumba-meu-boi de Rama Santa in Cururupu.
This couple directs a Bumba-meu-boi group in a town near Mirinzal. Far from the capital of São Luís they practice this heritage celebration on a a virtually non-existent budget. In the older way of celebrating, most of the work is done by the participants, including the construction of their own costumes and, of course, the boi itself (the 4-foot ox figure that is danced in the festival).
“Corroça do Boi,” (an oxcart) hauling bricks in Mirinzal. In this part of the interior the rural economy agriculture is a critical part of the life, and cattle serve in many ways. This is a real-life version of the emblematic animal whose name is carried in the Bumba-meu-boi festival, Maranhao’s most popular and widespread celebration.
This woman was a leading celebrant of the Bumba-meu-boi until she lost her sight. Here, in the city of Mirinzal.
