Slow Photography #51 Color, Dance and Energy at Bahamas Junkanoo

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The photographer Jim Austin Jimages captures Junkanoo and its music, passion and personalities.  

Feel the drums, the fire in “ya belly”, the rhythms of Junkanoo, the soul of the Bahamian people.

Junkanoo dancers have costumes made of crepe paper, and their masks consist of colored cloth and leather. These stilt dancers, street dancers, clowns and acrobatic dancers are joined by bands playing powerful rhythms on goatskin drums, cowbells, bugles, horns, whistles and Queen conch shells.

All the dancers spend months making their costumes by hand. Jim traveled to Nassau several times under sail, rowing ashore to meet the dancers at midnight on Bay Street, for this 9 image photo essay, "Portraits of Bahamas Junkanoo":










 

The next Junkanoo is Boxing Day December 26, 2015. Thousands will dance in the streets. 

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The Photographer JIM AUSTIN JIMAGES is a teacher and writer. He sails from the Bahamas to Canada, living year-round aboard the sailing catamaran Salty Paws.

Austin loves teaching; he leads outdoor workshops on adventure, nature and portrait photography from the Bahamas to New England. Text and Images Copyright 2015 Jim Austin, www.Jimages.com . 




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