Last time out I mentioned my disappointment at not being able to attend and photograph the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. I’m still thinking about it. And it’s more than just about lost opportunities to make great photographs; it’s about missing the experience that the camera enables.

I’ve talked many times about the journey being as important to me as the photographs. And when I couldn’t go to the parade, not only did I miss out on the pictures, but I missed out on train and subway rides to Penn Station and Coney Island. I also missed hanging out with the mermaids and the whole Coney Island thing itself, including the parade.  That’s a lot of missing out for just one outing!

Now I’m thinking about it again. $#@%^&*

The problem I am of a certain age now, and missing out on annual events or anything of importance is real lost opportunity … photographically and otherwise … and this was a great photographic and life opportunity for me. So much so, that I’m writing about it now! I plan to live to one hundred but who knows how many Mermaid Parades I have left in me or whether the powers that be will foolishly decide to cancel the thing one day?

For me the camera is a real enabler of so many things, both known and unknown, tangible and intangible, imagined and unimagined!

Stay well,

Michael