This is the second time I have attended Dipavali in Saint-André. This town is located just 30 minutes from Saint-Denis and has a large Tamil community. Dipavali is the Festival of Lights and is undoubtedly the biggest festival in the town, taking place every year in November. Last year, I went to Holi and started writing a blog post that I never finished. This year, we went as a family and some friends joined us. The kids didn’t want to take part in the festivities, though, and sat in a shady corner playing on their phones…
I had intended to attend the big parade on Saturday evening as well, but having worked the night before, I decided to skip it… Last year, I went on my own and had a wonderful time. We were treated to a small parade of deities to kick off Holi. I was expecting the same thing this year. For me, the start of Holi coincided with this little event. Below are a few photos I took in 2024.
This year, there was no parade! We just heard a small procession of Tamil percussion instruments announcing the start of the festivities. We were still sitting at the table having lunch. It was only when we went to the place where Holi was supposed to take place that we realised that the real fun had already begun! Colourful people were already making their way back. Damn, we had missed the start of the festival of colours!
Everyone rushed to the points where small pots filled with coloured powder were being handed out, throwing them at their neighbours to their heart’s content. It was a joyful mess where it was difficult to stay clean. Last year, I tried to be very careful with my Ricoh GR3. This camera is a real dust magnet, and the conditions were extreme. We also had to be careful of water splashes. Large fire hoses were set up to cool people down, and as you can imagine, the kids loved getting soaked. This festival is, in a way, very digressive.
Fred, a photographer and videographer friend, joined us that day. Fred is a teacher and had Joachim and Ronan in his class. That’s when I met him. I don’t think I’ve ever met a teacher who does so many activities with his students. He regularly makes short vlogs to document his class’s outings and activities. Basically, when he goes out, he has his Lumix mirrorless camera ( G9II) , which allows him to take photos and film, but he also often carries his drone or his pole with his 360° camera! In short, he’s a guy who’s addicted to still and moving images! He took the opportunity to make a short video, which I’m sharing with you so you can see the lovely mess that was Holi.
A week before Holi, I had to open up my Ricoh GR3 again to clean the sensor. It’s become routine for me. I think I can do it in less than 10 minutes! So, for the occasion, I installed a filter on the Ricoh to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The camera isn’t weathersealed, but at least I protected it from dust.
And I think I did the right thing because I got thoroughly sprayed with coloured powder. The most annoying thing was having to constantly check that the filter was clean so as not to ruin the photos I took. And very often, it was when I was cleaning my filter that a sneaky little one would attack me!
Water was also the other major hazard that day. I have always been drawn to people having fun in the water. I have ruined more than one Ricoh GRD IV by getting too close to the water. I saved a few in rice boxes, but others did not survive… Even though the lens part of my camera was protected, as I said, the GR3 is not weathersealed and therefore does not like water! So I stayed at a reasonable distance from the water to take photos (that means very close for me …)
The sky was overcast but very bright, which made shooting with the LCD screen very difficult. I could hardly see anything when I was shooting, so I relied more on my instincts and my knowledge of the 35mm focal length. I wasn’t shooting blind, but I was composing the photos more with my eyes without necessarily looking at the LCD screen. I could vaguely make out shapes on my LCD screen.
In any case, we had a great time and even Gwen, who wasn’t necessarily keen, had a blast! Next year, I’ll try to go to the parade, because I think that even though it takes place at night, there are opportunities to take some nice photos. Even if it means going a little earlier to document the preparations in the late afternoon.
All photos were taken with the Ricoh GR3 | Crop 35mm except those of Fred which were taken with the Lumix G9II
Brilliant Jeff. Love those shots. Especially the hands frame from 2024. Fred needs to have a blog. I saw you and Gwen featured in his video, she likes that hat! I’m pretty sure I could recognise her anywhere. The thing with your photography is that it’s so immersive( in a real way), you actually could be there.
Fred is a very good photographer and a very talented Vloger. I’m impressed by the time dedicated to all the post processing of all the material. He wasn’t a street guy but since we know each others, he has been interested by Street Photography. He even borrowed his uncle’s GR3 to use it in Thailand for his last family holidays. You see I’m trying to build a GR community here on the island. There’s only the two of us 😉
You spoted right Gwen. It’s not really her fav hat, but she’s like a vampire, she protected herself from the sun and I like it because it’s a great for photography !
Thanks for the huge compliment about my work. I guess that I kept that “immersive feeling” from my 28mm years. It’s true that I want people looking my photos to feel the energy, the tension I felt taking the photos. As you said, I want them to feel as if they were with me the moment I took the picture