Sleeveless the Magician. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A crowd assembled to watch a performance by Sleeveless the Magician at San Diego’s Balboa Park.
This photograph comes from a visit to San Diego a few years ago. We ended up spending a good part of a day wandering around the city’s big Balboa Park along with huge crowds of other people enjoying the early spring Southern California sunshine. I recall that on this day I had left my big camera behind and instead was traveling light, using a very small camera and a couple of little primes, and having fun shooting street photographer style.
A big crowd had assembled along a wide passageway where a street magician was performing, doing tricks that seemed largely designed to appeal to children. I stood at the back of the crowd and made a few photographs. Rediscovering this photograph recently reminded me how much I miss the experience of being in huge, busy crowds in places like this. Yes, I like being alone in quiet places, but I miss busy parks, crowded restaurants, concerts, even airline travel. I’m looking forward to seeing life return to something resembling normal in 2021.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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Everyone is missing the old days where we were able to travel freely, mix with people, and have fun. The present time is really difficult for everyone. Great picture of magician showcasing his art entertaining people and surprising kids. Let us hope that this period gets over soon and we can live like old times.
Hello Riccardo,
That is what I was thinking of when I came across this photograph while exploring my archive of raw files — how much we took for granted the experience of being in spontaneous crowds like this one, and how much we miss that right now. I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to enjoy such things once again before the year is over, though the experience of this year will never be out of our thoughts in the future.
Dan