Shot with the X-Pro2 and the 35mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/2.
Naivety, mischief, falsehood, hedonism, terror, sacrifice. The Adventures of Pinocchio has it all. Indeed, as dark as the Disney version was the original Italian children’s tale really puts everyone through the wringer. Upon being born Pinocchio’s first act is to cruelly mock his ailing creator. He kills the talking cricket with a hammer and accidentally burns his own feet off. The cat and the fox attempt to murder Pinocchio by stringing him up on the gallows, but end up in a sad way as malnourished beggars chopping off their tails to sell for food. The boy Candlewick is not only transformed into a donkey on Pleasure Island but is worked to death by a farmer, upon the discovery of which Pinocchio informs the pitiful beast-child that yes, it was indeed a judgement upon his wickedness. True, it all ends well for Pinocchio and Geppetto in the end as with a little help from the blue fairy he does indeed become a good little boy; but his journey does leave a remarkable trail of misery and death behind him.
Still, with a surge of optimistic Italian peasant-farmers leaving their fields to seek fortune in the cities, writer Carlo Collodi perhaps could feel justified in laying down a humdinger of a violent morality tale for the boisterous kids of Generation 1890. It’s a tale that keeps finding fresh resonance, too. Alice Muzzioli and Inari Soinila craft a wickedly funny tragicomedy as Pinocchio is thrust into the modern world of reality television, get-rich-quick schemes and the seemingly never-ending popularity contest that is the internet age. Violent, giddy, emotional and tragic, Muzzioli and Soinila’s absurdist theatre group ‘Fucktons of Faeries’ never disappoint when they dream up a new dark tale for the stage. And man, they are amazing to shoot in monochrome.
That was back in June at the Cardiff fringe. Man, it takes me ages to post - though part of that delay can both be chalked up to being in America on the road again and dithering indolence. This is part one of three different performances I hope to post that I captured in Cardiff this year, the others to come on the heels of this one. I’m really enjoying the high-contrast black and white for performances at the moment, it really focuses you on movement and expression, and I think the next two pieces will follow the same vein. I hope you enjoyed this little piece. To all you photographers out there, get out there and support your local arts scene. Meanwhile, I’ve got a big backlog of stuff I’ve shot this year to get online, and I hope to see you all soon with some more pictures what I took.
Love and rockets,
Pete
