The Nottinghill Carnival 2013

Having had the "Notting Hill Carnival" experience  of yesteryear, I decided to re-acquaint myself with Carnival this year. I  have had fond memories of the Rio, Jamaican, Rotterdam and Trinidad carnivals. The latter, to me, by far the most impressive in every respect. What I do know is that with my new found lease on life this year, I eagerly plan to carnival at Mardi Gras and Trinidad again with great anticipation.

There is a whole new genre of Carnival, and I eagerly look forward to the newer carnivals, having experienced the more established ones. I am somewhat curious about the African carnivals.

My  excitement  to experience African carnivals is to experience the fusion of the Caribbean and Africa, both marinated and enriched with many cultures and many years of history.

I cannot do justice to the more intricate history of carnival on this blog, so I have attached a link that explains all.

The Nottinghill Carnival history

Put aside (if you can) the crime, Notting Hill Carnival has become a police state heavy scented with cannabis; deafening and noise-polluted with steel pan drums and soca floats with booming sound systems. Let's not forget to mention the eye sores of  boarded shops, necessary though with all the anti social going ons.

What  you can never escape from Carnival, is how multicultural the event is. Yes I do believe it promotes multiculturism and that I enjoy.

Back to carnival.

With its one million visitors, I find my movements restricted, my limbs dulled to a very slow walking pace. I experience sensory overload from an intoxicating mix of sun, sweat, smoky beef and chicken bbq fumes, machetes decapitating coconuts oozing with coconut water, charcoal fumes, heavy undulating beats, floats adorned  with semi clad male and female dancers. 

No words really can describe carnival. I so hope the pictures do.The vibrancy, the effort invested in designing gowns, and not least the choreography and dance.

The police were there to serve and protect...

They ended up getting served a lot more than they'd bargained for

Fairies walk among us!

Till next time!

Kassim Makorie

Photographer and blogger

Photo editor: Sinazo Yolwa

Graduate Fashion Week Part 2

I learnt the following day that LAUREN SMITH, from Edinburgh College of Art won the Graduate Fashion Week Gold award for her paperclip-adorned and whimsically-illustrated womenswear - described by designer and GFW judge, Roland Mouret, as an "emotional" collection. Smith now gets the chance to work with GFW title sponsor George on a capsule collection and pockets £20,000 to launch her fashion career. 

Lauren Smith

Here's the rest of what went down:

Liverpool John Moores University

Northbrook College Sussex

Nottingham Trent University

The School of Fashion

University of Northampton

University of South Wales, Newport

University of The West of England

I'd like to thank the graduates, the organisers of GFW, clothing retailers George, Asda and Walmart, as well as everyone who made the week a success. And thank you to Sinazo Yolwa for editing the photos.

Til next time,

Kassim Makorie

Graduate Fashion Week 2013 (Part One)

                                               

Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) aims to showcase and promote employability, draw a strong fashion crowd and offer workshops. Now in its 22^nd year, a warm summer day in June called me to Earls Court 2. The much anticipated GFW, hailed as the biggest of its kind worldwide, was sponsored by George, Walmart's clothing brand. The word exciting lurches  at me whilst I lunge into my bag to gently pull out my date for the day. 'Nick' is an advocate of all things artistic with a fine eye for detail, provided Nick is pointed in the right direction and not man-handled, when summoned by myself to capture the beauty of what lies ahead. Yes in a perverse manner I have a relationship with my camera, aptly named 'Nick'. A Nikon D5100 with all the extra accessory trimmings, too many to mention. Back to GFW.

I rush through registration to be ushered into the arena I have been anticipating for several weeks now. In no way am I disappointed as I prowl through the spacious aisles. It’s not long before I remember I am accompanied by Nick, take a short deep breath and say, "Let’s do this". Nick agrees.

I walk, I point, I snap, I turn, I browse, I stop, I enquire, I listen, I snap, I walk. All is going swimmingly well, until I am asked by a graduate designer what I am doing; and that I should not be taking pictures of her designs because of plagiarism. Truth be told, I had not heard that word in such a long time, school actually. I laughed so hard (inside though).

So now it’s a question: a snap with stealth, or be polite and ask? Truth be told, if you’re scared of plagiarism and you have brought your wears to GFW to exhibit, you’re in the wrong place, darling. Simples. Nick concurs. Our date interrupted at this juncture and an ever increasing awareness of feeling the need to ask when I really don’t wish to, as other photographers with their 'Nicks' are doing similar.

Here's what caught my eye:

   Colchester School of Art 

Bradford College

Edinburgh College of Art

Esmod

Esmod Oslo

Instituto Marangoni

Bath Spa University

This is only the beginning. Look out for part 2 coming soon!

Kassim Makorie

Blogger and photographer