Grace Keeps the Earth From Tilting More, 2010
Chalk Art Fairs are not a new idea. But there’s something refreshing about the idea of children and adults exercising their creative whims with colorful chalk on public sidewalks.
The Chalking of Ghent spread color up and down the sidewalks on either side of Colley Avenue in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood. Artists of all ages took part.
Photographically speaking, events like this can be problematic, especially if it’s a cloudless day and the chalk artists are working in areas of bright sun and dark shade. Colley Avenue is tree-lined for much of its length and the temperature was in the mid-90s with high humidity. Smart artists showed up early enough to get the spots in the shade. Taking photographs of their work called for either a lot of unnatural infill flash or a lot of judicious exposure compromises. I chose the latter.
Hopscotch Rocks, 2010
Whereas I’ve taken lately to bringing two cameras along to make switching between lenses easier, I decided I was only going to bring one camera with one lens for this event. I also wanted to play around with angles. I figured there’d be enough other people there taking straight shots. Grace Keeps the Earth From Tilting More, Hopscotch Rocks and Wren is Best. Best is Cool. are attempts to break from the norm.
Wren is Best. Best is Cool. 2010
My favorite, though, was the wonderfully wry pair of simple stick figures shown below.
You’ve Put on Weight, 2010
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Those are great! I have fond memories myself of hopscotch and drawing all over sidewalks as a kid. Mostly I remember slate sidewalks that were slanted upwards to accommodate bulging tree roots and made for wobbly art.
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