Saturday, January 23, 2010

Coordinated Synthetic Knitwear Of The Damned


All of these can be clicked for bigger.

I had a really great time photographing the anti-abortion ninnies this year. I just love this event! It makes me giddy all day, wishing all my startled co-workers Happy Abortion Day! This year, I needed a hook, so I decided to concentrate only on the tendency for groups of these protesters to wear really bad matching scarves and/or hats made out of polyester "fleece" or acrylic yarn. Ugh. See, I'm a woolens-snob, so this always offends me.

At first I was a little shy, see above, keeping my distance, but eventually I threw caution to the wind and just started shooting people aggressively, right in their faces. Fun! Don't all these kids look so nice? Oh, and apologies for somehow only getting a single non-white protester in all of these shots (it's like Where's Waldo! Can you find him?). Anyway, even though I didn't get any amusingly misspelled signs or children holding inappropriate slogans like in the past, I think these are the best pictures I've ever taken of this event.

Matching white hats:



Matching orange scarves:



Matching green scarves:



Matching... uh... tiger-striped fleece:



Matching red knit caps for the boys, pink bandannas for the girls:



Again, don't these look like nice kids?



Matching bags and green knit hats:



Matching orange scarves with gold trim:



Matching yellow scarves:



Matching green scarves:



Matching neon chartreuse scarves:



Matching blue scarves, etc., etc. you get the idea:






22 comments:

Matthew Hubbard said...

I found Waldo. Background of matching green scarves. Is there a prize involved?

Civic Center said...

Way to get up your photographic courage and just shoot away. They're in public and want to be noticed. You're noticing them! Win-win, as they say in corporate speak.

Lulu Maude said...

Clearly they haven't chosen their Team Colors.

Probably want to be able to find each other in the crowds before they get back to their big-ass chartered buses.

Karen Zipdrive said...

What an amazing photo essay!
And I was pleased to notice that none of the youth involved should ever worry about considering abortion, because none of them are even remotely fuckable.

Diane Griffin said...

Matty, I have to disagree -- I think it's the last one, with the red hats following the orange people on the march. Right nearthe center of the pic, a little to the left.

Peteykins said...

No, look closer Madduane: that's a scarf over a cap. Matty's right.

Thanks, SF Mike! You obviously don't have this problem. You're always shooting people up close. I have a hard time working up my nerve.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see that the Princess still has her eye for color and her nose for absurdity!

hughman said...

this is like the short bus from hogwarts.

Fran / Blue Gal said...

Absolutely hilarious, and the best tribute this year to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Sparklepony, you are the best.

Mistress Cynica said...

Reminds me of football crowds in England, only not drunk and barfing. Nice work!

Anonymous said...

Good heavens, if these protesters aren't careful they will make up their own little rainbow, and you know how much they hate those. Well, the women probably would not care as much as the men, but you get the idea.

Anonymous said...

They coordinate their clothing so that they can identify people who are not part of their organization and who may be trying to disrupt the march by joining them.

It's a code for "I belong" to the group protesting.

pvt pyle said...

There are two non-white marchers, one in each green scarf picture. Is this a trend?

Shelly said...

I think the kids in the white hats look like they have latex condoms pulled over their heads.

Lol.

samael7 said...

New slogan for the protestors for next year's march:

"Abortion Day: It's All About The Swag!"

Eye on U said...

Would I be out of line in my observation that the little yellow hats in the first pic and the little white hats in the second pic could be taken for little unrolled condoms?

Ironic, no?

Eye on U said...

OOPS.

Looks like Shelly already made that observation...

Matthew Hubbard said...

Back to the Where's Waldo game. Obviously, there's the guy in the suit in the foreground of the white caps picture, but he might just be an innocent passerby.

Peteykins said...

Matty, that's a police officer.

Anonymous said...

One of the more surreal moments of my life came when I was escorting. One of the regulars (we called her "Amazing Grace") was following me and telling me I was going to hell and that she would hate to be in my shoes. I couldn't help it, I looked down and wouldn't you know, our shoes were identical. I said, 'looks like we already are.' and she began to chat like we were old friends about how much she loved her shoes, and didn't I think they were comfortable. I just stood there, dumbfounded. Then one of her coreligionists caught up to us and she went back to telling me how awful I was.

karen marie said...

How these morons dare chastise anyone for "indoctrinating the children!" is beyond me.

These photos are proof that they have no shame.

Johannes d.T. said...

Reminds me of the Chicago stockyards---herds of clueless, hapless, corn-fed bovines. Can’t you just feel the luv? Well, I’d be grim, too, were I condemned to a life of masturbation.