Thursday, April 30, 2009

San Jacinto Day Portrait 3

This reenactor at the San Jacinto Day Festival this past weekend delivered an entertaining pitch for his product "Dandelion." His act reflected back to the days win traveling "medicine men" would hitch their wagons to their team of horses and move from town to town selling magic in a bottle. They would mix a little cheap whiskey with colored water, apply an important looking label, and be ready to go. Their success was dependent on their skill as pitchmen and their ability to put on a show. They would promise that their elixir would cure anything from gout to consumption for a mere dollar. Unsuspecting, mostly uneducated, crowds would be enthralled with his "style over substance" performance and line up to buy whatever he was selling.

Flash forward 125 years or so, substitute a jet for the wagon and add "hope and change" to the mix of false promises, and it's still strangely familiar today.

2 comments:

Larry J. Patrick said...

You captured this at just the right moment to get what "he" is all about. I think the composition, which focuses totally on him, is the correct one.

Really nice work.

Anonymous said...

I am accused of cropping too close at times, but I think this photo wouldn't be the same if there were more to it. Great shot!