The Dream

Most of you know about my "Humans of Raleigh" project that I started a few months ago. For those that have not take a look at www.humansofraleigh.com to check it out. :-)
But because of that project I found myself in Raleigh yesterday. It was Martin Luther King day and there was going to be a March in Raleigh. So packed up my camera and I went out to downtown Raleigh. And when I arrived people were already gathering up and there was some music playing.



I got to talk with some of the people that were participating. All had their own reasons to be there that morning. From justice for all, to helping the poor and giving back to the community. Then I also got to talk to this lady.



She told me that she was raised in Alabama and was one of the protesters in the sixties and she and all her friends got arrested for being on the bus. Those who have seen the movie "The Butler" recently might recall history a little better now. Today she was with her friend and they got a little emotional. Having done the military homecomings for OpLove before, I felt "that" feeling coming up again. "The-photographer-gets-emotional"-feeling. I do not always welcome that feeling when behind my camera, but when it pops up it is almost always unstoppable. The lady looked at me and she said it was hard. I put my camera down and walked towards her. Making a photo now, wouldn't be appropriate. We talked a bit and I said to her that I couldn't change history but asked her if it would be okay to give her a hug. She smiled. And we hugged. And while doing that I felt a tear running down my cheek. She thanked me and said every year after she had been on the March. Every year. And she was going to be doing that as long as she could.







"I am the dream."

Close your eyes.....

Real, real tight...... And when you open them, you have become....... A butterfly!

This weekend I went to the Raleigh Arts festival called Artsplosure. I think Raleigh's festivals are fun to visit, but this one especially. Artsplosure gives me an international vibe. All of a sudden you hear different languages among the people around you. Quite the change from the familiar and always welcoming "y'all" version.

When ever do you see someone playing his piano on wheels in the middle of a busy street crossing? I mean not often right?

Or a blushing mermaid being sculped by her artist? I am telling you it is special.

Colorful people and beautiful sights....

 

Although being a creative artist can be exhausting.

When I just parked the car I saw that there was a circus tent right in front of the Raleigh auditorium. Not a real big circus tent, but still of decent size. Around it were all the familiar RV's and there I saw a man and his dog. They were practising their act. So I stopped, as it was a fun thing to watch. He had the dog jump through a hoop, which he was holding himself. I asked him if I could take a picture. And got an OK from him by him nodding his head. Great! But besides that, he showed his trick a couple of times more. Nice! That's how you please the photographer. The circus had big signs saying that it was all the way from Italy. So I asked him if he was Italian. But told me he was from Germany. So I said in my best rusty German that I was from Holland. He looked up and gave me a big smile..... And then started talking Dutch. Awesome! Didn't see that one coming. Ok, they might not have been the kind of words you want to repeat in front of a big audience but it was so funny. We exchanged some Dutch/German words from there. Still funny! So there you have it, the German guy traveling with an Italian circus through America and speaking Dutch. How more international can it get?