In choosing a subject for a photo project or photo essay you could pick almost anything under the Sun (including the Sun), from the serious to the mundane.
Today, I’ll shimmy down the spectrum more toward the mundane…
In Times Of COVID, Where Do The Children Play?
By chance, I ran across this closed mini amusement park in a town along the coast, just north of Barcelona… and I had exactly one free hour to shoot before returning to family activities.
So, despite the harsh mid-day light, I decided to see if I might come up with some acceptable images of the COVID-shuttered park attractions–pictures that I hoped might tell a story of… uh… well, absence, maybe?
Where were the children? Where were the carnival barkers and ticket takers? Where did they all go when the rides shut down due to the epidemic?
Would I find their ghosts?
30 Photographs – Palamós Seaside Amusement Park
Color, rather than monochrome, seemed the right choice for this little test project…
The layers start first at the sea… then comes the sandy beach (both behind me)… then the drying fishing nets you see in the foreground, then my objective–the colorful little amusement park–then a strip of restaurants and bars, a wall of apartments, and finally the church steeple above:
Amusement Park, #36, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
The colors of the choo choo train ride drew me in ever closer, the actual train hidden under protective blue tarps:
Amusement Park, #1, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #3, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #2, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Shooting in harsh mid-day light? Well, I mused, I might as well incorporate those shadows into a composition. I feel like this one is the best of the four I shot of the baby railroad. Many times, closer turns out to be best:
Amusement Park, #4, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
“Carnival rides,” it says… along with portraits of characters familiar to kids the world over (apparently). Capturing the elderly couple where they are, walking away from their youth, was deliberate:
Amusement Park, #5, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Sparky The Fire Dog, Mickey Mouse, et al… and tourist high rises as a blurred backdrop:
Amusement Park, #6, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
“Taquilla” is the ticket booth, of course… but, beyond that, does anyone have any idea what this ride actually does? It had me stumped. I guess if it says “rodeo” then maybe you get bucked around a bit???
Amusement Park, #8, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
“Hand over yer tekit raht heer, pardna’!”
Amusement Park, #9, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
The park, at one point, was apparently operating under certain COVID restrictions–or maybe it still does but with limited hours and a reduced kid limit? This poster asks, “What can I do to protect myself from the new coronavirus?” Feel free to practice your Catalan by translating the rest of the suggestions:
Amusement Park, #10, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
After the railway, this was the most photographically attractive ride in the park:
Amusement Park, #11, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #12, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
The itty-bitty empty plastic chairs… evidence that it’s definitely a ride for the tiny tykes:
Amusement Park, #13, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Who are these alligator creatures, anyway? They are not of my generation, so I have no idea. But, I’m pretty sure there are parents out there who know them only tooooo well from stuffed animals, toys, videos, movies, and cartoons (the whole commercial range):
Amusement Park, #14, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Another empty and locked ticket booth–although you can still stick your hands through the slot and demand your change:
Amusement Park, #17, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Again, I’m shooting at what most photogs consider the wrong time o’ day–but instead of hating the Sun, I brought it into the composition… along with a pair of passing gulls. The dynamic range these new cameras can capture is impressive. Shooting in raw with the D850, in post, I was able to bring up the shadows on the pink alligator (originally very, very dark) and drop down the highlights around the sun to make it work:
Amusement Park, #19, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
More blue tarps–this time covering the wild horses on what I suppose must be the Pony Express ride:
Amusement Park, #21, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #22, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
I liked the coiled rope in the middle, but I’m not sure what purpose it might serve. To tie Snively Whiplash to the railroad tracks, perhaps?
Amusement Park, #23, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #24, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
A westernized pirate Minion and his/her crazy-happy companion disguised as a trash container:
Amusement Park, #25, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
The Minions guard yet another ticket booth, with the port and a bank of bland (and COVID empty) tourist high rises in the background. Note the tape marking out proper COVID spacing:
Amusement Park, #26, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
A few building portraits… maybe for the ring toss, the balloon pop, or the sharpshooting challenge… or for picking up a few deep-fried churros???
Amusement Park, #27, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #28, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #30, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #31, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Do your kids have waaay too much energy? Let them bounce around in here for a few minutes and they will sleep like the babies they still are (or… they will get even more hyped up!):
Amusement Park, #32, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Everything else seemed to have sort of a Western (USA) theme… but there it was, Captain Hook’s ship sailing the high seas across the parking lot just as proud as you please:
Amusement Park, #29, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
Amusement Park, #33, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
One last look at a lonely ticket booth as I walked out of the silent park:
Amusement Park, #34, Palamós, Catalunya, 2021
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